On the 140th anniversary of his death, Bedřich Smetana stepped up and joined the first rank of European Romantic composers. Or at least that’s the way it seemed after the Berliner Philharmoniker opened this year’s Prague Spring festival with a virtuoso performance of Smetana’s Má vlast.
The cycle of six symphonic poems is the signature piece for the festival, which invites a different orchestra every year to offer a fresh interpretation of Smetana’s love letter to his homeland. Past performers have ranged from the Czech Philharmonic to the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, led by a glittering roster of guest conductors. Under the baton of Chief Conductor Kirill Petrenko, the Berlin orchestra took the nationalist wrapping off Má vlast and set it firmly in the continental canon.
Petrenko’s approach was clear from the opening strains of the soothsayer’s harps through the tumultuous history of Vyšehrad castle that comprises the bulk of the first movement, all rendered in grand dimensions with impeccable clarity. The warmth in the main theme was familiar, but the setting was a departure – stately, almost solemn at times, a touch of formality framing the deep wellspring of emotion. The refined treatment lifted the music to another level, giving it a magisterial air.
The elegant gloss of the well-known Vltava sounded straight from Vienna, with silken strings evoking the rippling waves and strong rhythms underpinning the entire movement. Petrenko kept a tight rein on the dynamics, letting the melodies dominate. His use of rhythms was even more pronounced in Šarka, setting a steady pace leading to the bloody finale, which he portrayed with notable restraint. The details were there, but in service to the larger musicality of the movement, which Petrenko built to a slam-bang finish.
The narrative grew more vivid as the cycle progressed, though with an intriguing difference. The viewpoint Má vlast typically inspires is from the inside looking out, a native’s vision of his homeland. This performance was from the outside looking in, to great effect. The scenes in From Bohemia’s Woods and Fields were bright and colorful, with some particularly fine work in the woodwinds – though rendered as a painting, not a picnic. Petrenko captured the spirit of the movement, including a few flashes of national pride, without dipping into sentimentality or loosening any of the rigor that kept the music at a higher level.
Running together, the final Tábor and Blaník movements showcased Petrenko’s skills as a craftsman, building drama and tension to explosive proportions without missing a note or nuance. It would be too much to say that the music was shorn of its national character – there was no mistaking the Hussite hymn or hammering of a nation being born. But the classicism and grandeur in the sound gave the piece a universality and worthy place next to other masterworks of the late Romantic era.
The Berlin Phil plays at a very high level, which the orchestra augmented with a care and sensitivity not many visiting ensembles bring to Má vlast. The depth of understanding Petrenko showed, the crisp performance of the players and the fact that the orchestra performed the piece three times as part of its regular schedule in Berlin before bringing it to Prague conferred a new level of prestige and fitting anniversary honors on the Czech Republic’s most beloved composer.
