SMETANA: ORCHESTRAL WORKS, VOLUME 2

The first volume of this series met with great critical acclaim. Gramophone, making the disc an ‘Editor’s Choice’, commented: ‘This is a superb disc. There have been distinguished collections of Smetana’s symphonic poems but none quite to compare with this in excitement, richness of detail, sonic spectacle – how well Smetana writes for the brass! Not to be missed.’ Now, in Volume 2, Gianandrea Noseda conducts the BBC Philharmonic in a programme that includes the familiar Overture and Dances from The Bartered Bride together with overtures and ballets from lesser-known operas, among them The Brandenburgers in Bohemia, Dalibor, Libuse, The Two Widows and The Devil’s Wall.

Volume one of this series was an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and here Gianandrea Noseda conducts his second instalment in his Smetana Orchestral Works series.

This latest programme is made up of the familiar Bartered Bride Overture and Dances with the overtures and ballets of his lesser-known operas, including his first opera The Brandenburgers - performed with the Ballet from Act I, The Kiss – which was his first collaboration with the brilliant young librettist and poet, Eliska Krasnohorska, and The Devil’s Wall all of which offer Smetana’s masterful orchestration, panache and virtuosity.

They are performed with assurance by the BBC Philharmonic.