MA PATRIE

Description

An exceptional and acclaimed interpretation of Má vlast, now available on vinyl. In just a few years, Petr Popelka has risen to the forefront of the international elite of conductors. Principal conductor of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, he regularly performs as a guest conductor with the greatest European and American orchestras, as well as in operas around the world. For him, Smetana is not just an "essential Czech classic," but a deeply loved work and a source of artistic inspiration. "His masterpiece, Má vlast, should be approached like an opera, like a grand narrative... It is an absolutely unique work in the history of music, a cycle of symphonic poems whose theme is the composer’s homeland, and above all, no work has ever been written with so much love." The album was released in 2024 on CD (and also in Dolby Atmos format) to celebrate the bicentennial of Bedrich Smetana's birth. With exceptional musicality and meticulous attention to detail, the conductor and the orchestra delivered an interpretation of extraordinary finesse. This is not just another recording of Má vlast, as evidenced by the rave reviews from around the world: in February 2025, Gramophone magazine named the album "Editor's Choice," and the December issue of the French magazine Diapason awarded it the Diapason d'Or of the Year in the symphonic music category. The release of this vinyl edition of Má vlast in April 2026 commemorates the centenary of the founding of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.