R5 / Dvořák’s Symphony No. 3 ⬩ Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

This Dvořák-inspired programme brings together music shaped by nature with music responding to the contemporary world. The concert opens with the overture In Nature’s Realm, the first part of Dvořák’s triptych Nature, Life and Love. Here the composer unfolds an evocative musical image of the landscape, where singing melodies and delicate orchestration grow into symphonic form. “When I am in nature, I feel at my best – that is where my musical ideas come to me of their own accord,” Dvořák wrote in one of his letters to his patron Josef Hlávka.

At the centre of the programme stands the world premiere of Miroslav Srnka’s new work Is This Us? The composer dedicated the piece to the memory of the musicologist Lenka Hlávková. Srnka’s music is characterised by subtle, finely detailed work with sound and by dramatic tension arising from unexpected transformations of colour and rhythm.

The evening concludes with Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 10, a work from the early period of Dvořák’s creative life. It offers a glimpse of the composer as he searches for his own symphonic language, shaping a distinctive melodic voice while also reflecting the influence of Wagner. The result is music in which drama alternates with lyrical themes and which already clearly foreshadows the future author of the mature symphonies.

Cornelius Meister belongs to a generation of conductors able to connect different musical worlds with natural ease. He has led orchestras in Vienna and Stuttgart and regularly appears as a guest with major ensembles in Europe and the United States. In his programmes, he enjoys placing the classical repertoire alongside works by contemporary composers, creating dramaturgy that is both thoughtful and full of discovery.