Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra / Josef Špaček / Petr Popelka

In this symphonic poem, a witch appears on the scene at exactly noon and has a decisive influence on events in both the underlying fairy tale and the music. Of course, Dvořák did not miss the opportunity to incorporate the chimes of the church clock into his composition. We also hear a work by Dvořák’s son-in-law Josef Suk, who set four other fairy tale scenes to music in his orchestral piece »Pohádka«. But this Czech evening opens with music by Suk’s pupil Bohuslav Martinů. With his numerous echoes of folk music, Martinů enchanted not only his fellow countrymen, but also American culture-lovers in the 1940s and 1950s. It goes almost without saying that his Violin Concerto is performed by the exceptional Czech violinist Josef Špaček.