The first set of Dvořák's Slavonic Dances (Opus 46) was commissioned by Berlin publisher Fritz Simrock and was initially suggested as a piano duet series.
Composer Biography
As a child, Antonín Dvořák, the composer of the Slavonic Dances, heard much dance music and played the fiddle in a local band, absorbing Czech music rhythms.
Performer Biography
Leif Segerstam, the conductor, is a prolific composer who has written 14 symphonies, 6 violin concertos, and 26 string quartets, and has conducted his own works worldwide.
Performer Biography
The Rheinland Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra, founded in 1919, is based in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, West Germany.
Performer Biography
The 98-member Rheinland Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra has toured extensively, including appearances in Rome, Vienna, Moscow, and Leningrad.
Compositional Technique
The second set of Dvořák's Slavonic Dances (Opus 72) draws on dance forms from outside Czechoslovakia and tends to have a greater number of themes per dance.
Performer Biography
The Rheinland Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra has collaborated with world-class stars such as Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Anne-Sophie Mutter, and Gidon Kremer.
