Orchestra Wellington: The River

SMETANA: Vltava (The Moldau)

The poetic journey of a famous river from its trickling sources through to the mighty capital city and beyond.

Vltava in Prague Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0

Smetana Monument in Prostějov Photo: CC SA by 3.0

Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) was a nationalist composer from Bohemia, part of what is now the Czech Republic.

‘Ma Vlast’, or 'My Homeland', is a set of six symphonic poems he wrote in the late 1870’s.

‘Vltava’, or ‘The Moldau’ is the second and most well-known of the six, and it describes the sounds of one of Bohemia’s great rivers, starting from two small springs, their unification into one stream (bringing forth Smetana’s most memorable tune), and passing through various landscapes.

There's a forest, a hunting party (listen for the horns), and the scene of a farmer’s wedding celebration, complete with polka.

The day draws to a close, and nymphs appear at the water’s edge and begin to dance. After a while the stream broadens out into a full, fast-flowing river.

Vltava river continues through the dramatic St John’s Rapids, and past the ancient fortress of Vyšerad, then on towards the beautiful capital city of Prague, finally vanishing into the distance.

The meandering Vltava River Photo: CC-BY-SA-2.5

•       The famous melody on which the piece is based isn’t actually original. Smetana adapted it from an Italian Renaissance tune, La Mantovana, and it’s even been used as the basis for the Israeli National Anthem.
•       Smetana became afflicted with severe tinnitus, leading to deafness. As a result he was not able to hear four of his six 'Ma Vlast' symphonic poems.  
•       Vyšerad castle was something of a symbol of Czech freedom. Fittingly, Smetana himself is buried in a cemetery on the site of that legendary fortress.

Orchestra Wellington is conducted by Marc Taddei

Recorded by RNZ Concert, 18 October 2018 in Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington

Producer: David McCaw

Engineer: Graham Kennedy.

BARTÓK: Piano Concerto No 1

"Rising Star" pianist Christopher Park Photo: Supplied

• Hear an interview with rising star of the European concert hall Christopher Park, soloist for Orchestra Wellington.

Béla Bartók himself premièred this concerto as soloist. Rhythmic energy is paramount and the work stresses the piano as a percussive instrument. It combines familiar tonal harmonies with the harsher, more dissonant chromatic harmonies he'd been exploring previously.

Every aspect of this concerto serves Bartók's unique conception of piano sonority.  The driving rhythms are underlined by piano punctuations and the melodic material is kept deliberately minimal. The music is built from small fragments, not from tunes. This strategy makes the music constantly exciting - Bartók learned this technique from Stravinsky, whose music he greatly admired.

Early audiences found the brutal dissonances hard to accept, but today we can readily understand it as an expression of the tensions of our times. The barbaric qualities of this concerto were an extreme in Bartók's music, he never again adopted such raw force in his music.

Recorded by RNZ Concert, 18 October 2018 in Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington

Producer: David McCaw

Engineer: Graham Kennedy

DVOŘÁK: Symphony No 8 in G Op 88

Around the time of composing this symphony Dvořák said that he wanted to write "a work different from the other symphonies, with individual force worked out in a new way".

Příbram District countryside, where Dvořák composed his 8th Symphony Photo: Ondřej Koníček, CC BY 2.5 ex Wikimedia

Although following the general logic of a German-style symphonic structure, Dvořák writes with greater freedom than before, indulging freely in pastoral interludes filled with woodwind birdsong. Sounds of the Bohemian countryside permeate the work.

Overall, the mood is sunny and optimistic, and even the occasional excursions into minor keys don’t disturb the atmosphere of contentment.

There are four movements, as we’d expect. Of the first, the composer Janáček said that it put him “in a state of constant but pleasurable excitement”. The adagio has an elegiac but not tragic quality, and the third movement is a lilting, radiant waltz.  A trumpet fanfare opens the final movement, a complex but bright theme and variations.

Recorded by RNZ Concert, 18 October 2018 in Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington

Producer: David McCaw

Engineer: Graham Kennedy

CHOPIN: Nocturne in C# minor Op posth (encore)

Recorded by RNZ Concert, 18 October 2018 in Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington

Producer: David McCaw

Engineer: Graham Kennedy