Dvořák: Overtures

Featuring

Jakub Hrůša
PKF - Prague Philharmonia
Antonín Dvořák

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Composition History

The overtures In Nature's Realm, Carnival, and Othello were conceived by Dvořák as a unit to be performed together and are linked by a shared melody.

Composition History

Dvořák's overtures show a progression towards full independence, where the overture directly expresses a scene or story rather than merely anticipating it.

Performer Biography

Jakub Hrůša, the conductor on this album, served as Music Director and Chief Conductor of PKF - Prague Philharmonia from 2009 to 2015.

Compositional Technique

All five overtures on this recording are richly and vividly scored, employing broader instrument palettes than Dvořák's mature symphonies and sometimes calling for special effects.

Composer Biography

Antonín Dvořák, a Czech composer, wrote no less than thirteen overtures, which are orchestral pieces comparable in length and form to the first movement of a symphony.

Performer Biography

The PKF - Prague Philharmonia was founded in 1994 by world-famous conductor Jiří Bělohlávek and quickly became one of the most respected Czech orchestras.

Composer's Artistic Vision

A friend of Dvořák's indicated that the shared melody in his 1891-92 overtures (In Nature's Realm, Carnival, Othello) represents the composer himself.