| Tuesday 23 September 2025 | 20:00 |
| Orchestre National de France | |
| Cristian Măcelaru | Conductor |
| Rudolf Buchbinder | Piano |
After an almost three-week festival marathon, the grand finale comes with a performance by one of the finest French orchestras. But without Dvořák? No way—let alone the last night!
A festive evening featuring some of the most iconic works by their composers. George Enescu’s passionate Romanian Rhapsody, Gershwin’s lively Piano Concerto, and Ravel’s gently dreamlike La Valse represent signature pieces in each composer’s oeuvre. Framing them is Antonín Dvořák’s rarely performed Rhapsody in A minor, subtitled Symphonic Poem. Time is often seen as a fair judge in art—until, of course, a piece is labelled unjustly neglected. In the case of Dvořák’s Rhapsody, neither applies: it is a beautiful and dramatic work that the composer himself set aside for a while. Only later did listeners appreciate how visionary its seamless flow of contrasting sections was, even anticipating the style of later composers such as George Gershwin. While Gershwin sought to be as classical as possible in his Piano Concerto, he could not fully conceal his natural flair for catchy, inventive American melodies. The concert opens with the gentle exoticism of Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody and concludes with Ravel’s La Valse—an ethereal yet warm farewell to the evening and a heartfelt promise of future festival editions.
Ticket prices: 690 – 4 390 CZK
