# Smetena?



## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

I was looking at composers that I had very little of or have heard very little of, and was wondering if there was anything other than Ma Vlast(sp?) that was worth listening to or acquiring?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Manok - there was a Smetana thread started by Eviticus on the 4th Feb. There haven't been many replies so far but there are a few suggestions of works/recordings which might be of interest.


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## jalex (Aug 21, 2011)

The pair of string quartets are not just 'worth listening to' but truly outstanding, some of the best ever written.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Manok said:


> I was looking at composers that I had very little of or have heard very little of, and was wondering if there was anything other than Ma Vlast(sp?) that was worth listening to or acquiring?


_The Bartered Bride_, opera


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Those string quartets are so good that their existence is barely believable.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

His "Ma Vlast" (my fatherland) is one of the glories of the orchestral repertoire, although only the Moldau is 
performed with any frequency outside the Czech republic, which is a pity. I started a thread on it several months ago . 
You should also hear Smetana's other operas beside the Bartred Bride, which are almost totally unknown outside of the Czech republic . They are available on excellent, authentically Czech performances on the Supraphon label , which is a treasure trove of great recordings of Czech music .
Dalibor is a great opera about a Czech knight in the middle ages who is put on trial for murdering the man who murdered his best friend . The murderered man's sister comes to tesify against him at the trial, but she is so 
struck by his courage and bold definace that she falls madly in love with him and tries to have him rescued from prison, but both die in the attempt . The story has some similarities to the plot of Fidelio, but ends tragically .


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## Llyranor (Dec 20, 2010)

Ma Vlast and his 2 string quartets are all I've heard from him, and they are outstanding. This makes me wonder why I haven't listened to more of his works. What's wrong with me?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Llyranor said:


> Ma Vlast and his 2 string quartets are all I've heard from him, and they are outstanding. This makes me wonder why I haven't listened to more of his works. What's wrong with me?


Nothing wrong with you. Unfortunately Smetana's rep largely rests on Ma Vlast (and, I suppose, The Bartered Bride) largely in the same way that Holst's does with The Planets despite both composers having written a lot of other brilliant stuff which will probably continue to be overshadowed by their 'flagship' works.

And Superhorn is right about Supraphon - they have been consistently faithful to the legacy of not just the core repertoire of Czech/Bohemian music but also to much that is still relatively unfamiliar.


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