Energetic dances, brilliant melodies and summertime joy. The BFO’s Dvořák and Beethoven concert features the Grammy Award-winning Sir András Schiff.

If one were to listen to all of Dvořák’s music in one sitting, one would need three and a half days to make it through the oeuvre. The BFO will only perform one hour’s worth, but will show a wide variety of colours.

Dvořák wrote most of the works to be performed today during his most prolific period, not long after the tragic death of his three children. He was obviously trying to forget. At the time, piano pieces for four hands were a hit in the salons; thus, Legends (1881) and Slavonic Dances (1878) were both initially composed as piano duets and were orchestrated only later. Brahms was both an inspiration for these cycles and a fan of them. The Legends, with their intimate and lyrical character, are sometimes mentioned as an antithesis of the energetic and exalted Slavonic Dances. Dvořák composed the majority of his choral works before his Slavonic period; The Forsaken Lover will be sung by the members of the orchestra.

The Czech master loved the railways. He would have given up all of his symphonies if only it could have been he who invented the steam engine. Fortunately, things took a different turn. Symphony No. 6 (1880), exuding warmth and calm, is filled with summertime joy, reflecting the pulsating magic of the Czech countryside.

Dvořák’s ancestors lived in a small village outside Prague and were working as bartenders and butchers at the time when the 28-year-old Beethoven was performing his own Piano Concerto No. 1 in the Czech capital (1798). The BFO will perform the work with Sir András Schiff, one of the greatest living pianists of the world. The work offers sharp contrasts and will wow the listeners with its brilliant conclusion in particular.