Antonín Dvořák loved nature. “In the most beautiful forest I spend the most wonderful days in beautiful weather and I am constantly admiring the enchanting birdsong,” he wrote in 1884 from his summer residence in Vysoké u Příbram. Eight years later, he reported from New York that nature needed “its diminuendo and morendo to revive and rise to a great crescendo and reach again its strength and height in the mighty ff”.
He imprinted some of this in the concert overture entitled In nature, which was performed by the Czech Philharmonic this Wednesday in Prague’s Rudolfinum. A performance that he repeats on Thursdays and Fridays and whose recording can be seen on the Czech Television website, started its 128th season. It is precisely the compositions of Dvořák, who in 1896 conducted the first ever concert of the orchestra here, and so even at the beginning of the season, only his compositions were played.
In Nature is part of a trio of preludes originally collectively called Nature, Life and Love, which eventually became independent. This is so-called programmatic music, that is, striving to express some event or phenomenon through musical means. In this case, for example, short motifs played by flutes and oboes evoke birdsong, although the author did not leave a more detailed interpretation. According to the author of the catalog of Dvořák’s compositions, Jarmil Burghauser, he also worked with the theme of the spiritual song Vesele pívejme in the prelude.
The Czech Philharmonic under the baton of chief conductor Semjon Byčkov performed in excellent form on Wednesday. The strings shone like the sun over Vysoka, the strings turned silver, individual phrases were decorated with details, as if it were a solo recital.
The symbiosis between the conductor and the concert master, violinist Jiří Vodička, was infectious, their energy flowed into the orchestra and did not let up throughout the evening. The mainstays in the wind group did not disappoint: horn player Ondřej Vrabec, flutist Andrea Rysová, the ever-improving clarinetist Jan Mach and bassoonist Ondřej Roskovec. The prelude was imbued with passion, boisterousness, lightness and mischief.
In the following Concerto for violin and orchestra in A minor, the Czech Philharmonic accompanied the thirty-nine-year-old German-American soloist Augustin Hadelich for the first time. He won the prestigious Opus Klassik award for the recording of this piece with conductor Jakub Hrůša and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra the year before and was nominated for a Grammy.
Violinist Augustin Hadelich and chief conductor Semjon Byčkov. | Photo: Petra Hajská
With the instrument of the famous Guarneri workshop in Cremona from 1744, he showed that Dvořák’s work was under his skin. He took him “by storm” in the best sense of the word. He demonstrated intonation perfection, piercing, but not aggressive tones in the highs, sweet, even honeyed in the depths.
She was fascinated not only by his concentration, his ability to unwaveringly hit the most important and significant points musically, but perhaps even more by his absolute naturalness. In constant interaction with the orchestra, Hadelich “retold” Dvořák’s concerto and enjoyed it in all its layers.
Semjon Byčkov led the players empathetically, for example in the second movement he did not hesitate to depict an almost operatic scene. It worked great because Hadelich can sing and play the violin. The third sentence went full throttle. She took the audience by storm, taking them far beyond the stylization known from the composer’s cycle of Slavic dances. It didn’t matter at all.
The violinist showed that he also has the lightness of a prima dulcimer player or a café musician in the encore, his own arrangement of the song Por una cabeza by the famous representative of tango, Carlos Gardel, who lived from 1890 to 1935.
The break was followed by Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 from 1889, again inspired by nature in Vysoké. Already at the end of last year’s season with Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, the first Czech orchestra sent a clear signal that it has worked on details in the sound and does not intend to let up. Byčkov, who has been leading the Philharmonic since 2018, goes to the core as chief conductor.
Thanks to this, the Czech Philharmonic now played one of Dvořák’s loveliest symphonies like life, with a wide dynamic range and such drama that one wondered if the composer himself was aware of it.
The orchestra played wonderfully: sharp contrasts, lightning, thunder, chirping, darkness, warmth and softness could be heard. Concertmaster Vodička shone in the solo, the trumpets and trombones shone especially in the finale.
Semjon Byčkov deserves admiration for what he read from the score. With the precision and warmth that have always been the currency of this ensemble, he also excellently followed up on how Dvořák’s music was interpreted by one of the Philharmonic’s former chief conductors, Václav Talich.
The first Czech orchestra also contributed to the Year of Czech Music with the opening concert of the season. Next year will not only be 120 years since the death of Antonín Dvořák, but also 200 years since the birth of Bedřich Smetan or 65 years since the death of Bohuslav Martinů. On three evenings in December, the Philharmonic is preparing a concert performance of his opera Ariadne under the baton of chief guest conductor Tomáš Netopil.
2023-09-28 13:43:18
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