Smetana Litomyšl Festival ⬩ David Robertson

For the first time in its history, the Smetana Litomyšl Festival opens with two concerts. The inaugural program responds to the festival theme of NATURA and culminates in the music of Igor Stravinsky. The suite from the ballet The Rite of Spring once shocked the world and continues to fascinate with its portrayal of nature’s untamed power, as well as its order. As a contrast to this work, the first half of the concert features the symphonic poem Wallenstein’s Camp by Bedřich Smetana and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major in which the star pianist Seong-Jin Cho joins the Czech Philharmonic – the festival’s partner orchestra. The performance will be led by a specialist in 20th-century music, the American conductor David Robertson.