RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 3
SMETANA Má vlast (selection) (Vyšehrad, Vltava, Šárka)
Though very different in language and purpose, the two works featured in this concert reveal music’s extraordinary capacity for expression, whether in evoking images of nature and national identity or in exploring the emotional and technical possibilities of the piano. In his celebrated symphonic poem Vltava, from the cycle Má vlast, Bedřich Smetana paints a vivid and evocative portrait of the River Vltava as it winds its way through the landscapes and history of Bohemia. The music follows the river’s changing course with remarkable imagination, transforming natural scenery into a richly expressive symphonic narrative. In the Piano Concerto No. 3, Sergei Rachmaninoff combines passionate lyricism with dazzling virtuosity in one of the supreme achievements of the Romantic piano repertoire. Here, technical brilliance is never an end in itself but remains constantly at the service of an intensely expressive musical vision.
