Friday 6 August: Thoughts from home. My Homeland

Intimate ties with home, a breezy cheerfulness and unfamiliar sounds from faraway lands will fill the air on the evening of 6 August. In his famous “Moldau” from the “My Fatherland” cycle, Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884) transports us on a musical journey along the river of his beloved homeland and beyond. Written in 1874, the piece follows the course of the mighty river through forests and meadows, skitters over rapids and eventually fades quietly into the distance. In contrast, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major (“The Turkish”), performed by Christian Tetzlaff, is at turns strong and whimsical. The varied programme ends with Antonín Dvořák’s joyous Symphony No. 8 in G major from 1889. Performed by the violin virtuoso Christian Tetzlaff and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under the direction of the young Russian composer Maxim Emelyanychev, this inspiring and rousing piece is guaranteed to have the audience in raptures.