Smetana Má Vlast

Má Vlast is undoubtedly one of the best known works of Smetana even when knowledge is restricted to the tone poems, 'The Moldau' and 'Bohemia's Woods and Fields'. The work is not of ideal length for a CD, running to just a few minutes over its capacity and necessitating two CDs if played unabridged or unhurried. Of the many versions available perhaps three of the best are Kubelik, Mackerras and Talich.

Widely regarded as Bedrich Smetana's greatest hit, The Moldau is but one part of the orchestral cycle Má Vlast (My Country), which contains six tone poems on different Czech nationalist subjects. Smetana composed these epic works in the manner of Franz Liszt's tone poems, evoking dramatic images through colorful orchestration and painting natural and historical scenes through themes and harmonies of a pronounced Bohemian character. One might suppose that only a Czech orchestra could play this music with the proper intensity, but the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, under Claus Peter Flor, gives a stirring account that can rival any performance anywhere for energy, passion, and atmosphere.

James Levine's viennese recording of Smetana's famed masterpiece is one of the best performances of the work around today. With clear, full-bodied digital recording and ripe, rich and opulent playing from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, it presents a performance that is as comporable to Kubelik as any other. Despite Levine's roots in the theatre (Metropolitan Opera), he manages to grasp a clear sense of drama in the work, and while some might argue that he is mainly concerned with orchestral effect for its own sake, he certainly does not do this but presents every minute detail in this musical kaliedascopic picture.

Má vlast, also known as My Fatherland, is a set of six symphonic poems composed between 1874 and 1879 by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. The six pieces, conceived as individual works, are often presented and recorded as a single work in six movements. They premiered separately between 1875 and 1880. The complete set premiered on 5 November 1882 in Žofín Palace, Prague, under Adolf Čech.

The great Czech conductor and his beloved orchestra perform a definitive Má vlast. In one of his last recording with the Czech Philharmonic, Jiří Bělohlávek conducts a heartfelt account of Smetana's great set of symphonic poems: Má vlast (My Homeland).