THE PRAGUE RADIO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA UNDER PETR POPELKA

Within a mere few years, Petr Popelka has established himself as one of the world’s most exciting young conductors. Currently serving as principal conductor of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Wiener Symphoniker, he has also appeared as a guest with prominent European and American orchestras, as well as at opera houses worldwide. Popelka and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra have made for Supraphon a triple album featuring the complete symphonic works of Bedřich Smetana. The extraordinary album marks the 200th anniversary of Smetana’s birth and will be released on 13th December 2024 on CD and in digital formats. Lovers of spatial sound will certainly relish streaming Má vlast in the Dolby Atmos format which will be available in January 2025.

Petr Popelka says about the new recording: “The initial idea dates back to 2022, after I’d assumed the post of principal conductor of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. When considering what we could record, I suggested Bedřich Smetana, with regard to the approaching 200th anniversary of his birth. We decided to undertake this large-scale project, opting for music constituting a crucial component of Czech culture. Má vlast has been recorded on numerous occasions, and we aimed to capture the spirit of the present – 50 years down the road our successors may hear it somewhat differently.”

The triple album features also contains String Quartet No. 1, “From My Life”, hailing from Smetana’s mature period, when the composer was completely deaf, in George Szell’s brilliant orchestration. In contrast, Smetana’s early music is represented by the Festive Symphony, dedicated to the wedding of the 24-year-old Emperor Franz Joseph I to Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria, and three “Swedish” Liszt-inspired symphonic poems, based on dramas as immense as Shakespeare’s Richard III and Schiller’s Wallenstein.

“When it comes to Smetana’s ultimate masterpiece, Má vlast, we should approach it a bit like an opera, as a great story. The cycle of poems based on the theme of the homeland is absolutely unique in the history of music. Most significantly, I don’t know a work written with greater love,” Petr Popelka points out. Bringing to bear his great musicality and acute sense of detail, the conductor and the orchestra have modelled a truly exceptional form on the new recording.