Jakub Hrůša Conductor
Hélène Grimaud Piano
Bamberger Symphoniker

Robert Schumann: Konzert für Klavier und Orchester a-Moll op. 54
Bedřich Smetana: »Má vlast« (»Mein Vaterland«, Auszüge)

Scintillating fusion of nations! A contemporary raved about Smetana: »Richly knowledgeable, he had seen much, suffered much, and was a skilled and exciting storyteller.« The great Czech composer was fascinated by his homeland’s wonderful landscapes and wealth of legends. His magnificent national epic »Má vlast«, written between 1874 and 1879, creates a portrait of some of these scenes and myths. Our musical journey starts at the »Vyšehrad«, where it seems a medieval bard is evoking the royal castle’s glorious past. This is followed by the deathless »earworm« of the Vltava theme: Smetana’s music atmospherically traces the course of the river from its source to its mouth. The next tone poem revolves around the legendary warrior maiden »Šárka«, who leads a bloodthirsty campaign of revenge against unfaithful lovers – after first arousing the curiosity of men through her wiles. Finally, there is the atmospheric »From Bohemia’s Woods and Fields«, a light-hearted foray into scenes of pastoral beauty. Hélène Grimaud, too, believes nature to be the »humanity’s most important muse« – and her performances are also always driven by »curiosity and a sense of adventure«. Together with our orchestra, this exceptional artist will interpret the last piano concerto by Bartók, who, as an avid researcher of folk music, spent decades travelling across his native Hungary and to other countries with a phonograph. He completed his Third Piano Concerto in 1945 shortly before his death in exile in the USA – and it is imbued with his longing for his homeland and his love of nature: we hear a Hungarian children’s song, as well as the »music of a night filled with birds and insects«, which Bartók had noted down in North Carolina.