One of the Czech Republic's most lauded young conductors leads the Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert on WRTI this Sunday, January 11th at 1 pm. As WRTI's Jim Cotter reports, the program includes at least one work that embodies the Czech spirit.
In his Philadelphia Orchestra debut, Prague Philharmonia Chief Conductor and Music Director Jakub Hruša brought to the podium a program bookended by composers from his homeland. One of Leoš Janá?ek's earliest works, Jealousy and the Symphony No. 8 of Antonín Dvorák. This was, in turn, an early work for Hruša.
Both the Janá?ek and the Dvorák have in common the influence of folk music from Moravia and Bohemia. Hruša says many other mid- and late-19th century composers were listening to ethic music, but felt less free to acknowledge its influence.