The concert opens with Smetana’s Vltava, a symphonic poem that masterfully portrays the natural beauty and historical significance of the Czech river. It will be followed by Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto, an early work that combines brilliant piano virtuosity with heroic themes that would later reappear in his Eroica.

Bedřich Smetana
Vltava, the second symphonic poem from the cycle Má vlast

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37

Lukáš Vondráček – piano
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava
Lawrence Foster – conductor

The Moldau (Vltava) from Bedřich Smetana’s cycle Má vlast (My Homeland) is among the best-known and most frequently performed Czech compositions. In this symphonic poem, Smetana created a vivid musical portrait of the Vltava River, capturing its natural beauty, the landscapes it passes through, and the historical places along its course, from its humble springs to its majestic meeting with the Elbe. Although Smetana composed this masterpiece in 1874 after losing his hearing, he overcame his deafness with extraordinary creative imagination, producing an orchestral score that remains an embodiment of Czech national music.

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 represents one of the creative high points of his early period, while also signaling the heroic spirit that would later define his Eroica Symphony.

The concerto was premiered in Vienna in April 1803 during an extraordinary concert marathon featuring Beethoven’s first two symphonies and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives. Beethoven’s friend Ignaz von Seyfried, who turned pages for him that night, later recalled with astonishment that most of the score pages were virtually blank, bearing only a few mysterious signs. Beethoven played almost the entire solo part from memory, because, as was often the case, he had not had time to write it all down.