Má vlast is not only Smetana’s best known symphonic work, it is also his most ambitious. The whole cycle comprises six symphonic poems, composed between 1874 and 1879, inspired by the myths and nature of his beloved Bohemia, Šárka, the third in the series, tells the legend of a Bohemian horsewoman and her fierce vengeance against the hero Ctirad. Šárka gets herself tied to a tree, and convinces Ctirad that she has fallen into disgrace with the virgin warriors, then seduces him. But it’s an ambush! At a sound of the horn, Ctirad and his men are massacred pitilessly.
The symphonic poem, decisively popular in style, follows the story closely, with an agitated introduction leading up to the bold charge by Ctirad’s cavalry; then we have the deceitful courting moves, and a Bacchic orgy, followed by the rapid, dramatic conclusion.
First performed in Moscow in October 1901, Serge Rachmaninoff’s Piano concerto No. 2 is one of the most popular of his four. It is demanding for the soloist, who is called to produce a “transcendental” performance, combining speed with agility and power. This Concerto marked the end of the composer’s “creative block” after the disappointing reception of his First Symphony.
This explains why it is dedicated – possibly the only case in the history of music – to a psychiatrist, Nikolai Dahl, who had used hypnotherapy to treat the composer in those years.
The well-known eight chords that open the Moderato lead into an ample, flowing first theme; the second, in E flat major, is one of those unforgettable, timeless melodic moments. But what is there to say then about the Adagio sostenuto, the emotional heart of the Concerto, with its mood of yearning and nostalgia. The Finale is more aggressive, presenting yet another absolutely irresistible thematic idea.
Wagner had his own definition of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 (1812), which he called an “apotheosis of the dance”, and in the years to come this tended to influence the reception of this masterpiece. However, it is also true that Weber, after listening to the Seventh, reckoned Beethoven was ready for the madhouse!
The Symphony is certainly marked throughout by exceptional vitality and rhythmic exuberance, which hits you when you hear it for the first time. Possibly only the Allegretto escapes this definition, though in actual fact it too boasts constant, obsessive patterns of rhythm. Some of the composer’s contemporaries even compared it to a grieving funeral march!

Massimo Viazzo