Czech Philharmonic
Jiří Bělohlávek, conductor
Behzod Abduraimov, piano

Luboš Fišer
Sergey Prokofiev
Antonín Dvořák
Fifteen Prints after Dürer’s Apocalypse (1965)
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major Op. 26
Symphony No. 7 in D minor Op. 70

In the Year of Czech Music the BMF cannot do without an orchestra of such a hearty and special sound respected by the listeners all over the world – Czech Philharmonic led by the acclaimed conductor Jiří Bělohlávek. The opening of the concert belongs to the Czech composer Luboš Fišer known mostly due to his excellent film music, who in the 1960s followed the avant-garde compositional trends. His symphonic meditation over the famous cycle of woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer secured for its author the victory at the composers’ competition UNESCO in Paris.The Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergey Prokofiev, a very favoured and preferred piece today, had a difficult history: at the Chicago premiere it met with tepid reaction. Nevertheless, one year later this impressive work broke through. Lyrism and sarcasm typical for Prokofiev are its distinctive features, which will be accentuated by the rendition of another young globe-trotter, Tashkent nativeBehzod Abduraimov, the winner of the London International Piano Competition (2009). Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony excels in dramatic strength and at the same time it is deeply intimate, exploring the byways of the human soul. Aching emotions resulting from the deaths of his mother and elder daughter mould particularly the second movement of this incredibly concise work.