Concertgebouw Orchestra plays Dvořák’s New World Symphony

Antonín Dvořák’s From the New World

Antonín Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony (‘From the New World’) is one of the most popular symphonies ever written. After having been appointed artistic director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, the composer discovered the musics of Native Americans and African Americans, and incorporated folk melodies in the symphony. The music evokes grand American vistas, yet also betrays a yearning nostalgia for Dvořák’s own Bohemian homeland. The charming second movement is truly one of the smash hits of the classical repertoire.

Georges Bizet

Fabio Luisi also conducts Georges Bizet’s only symphony, the early Symphony in C Major, an energetic and playful work that puts the classical symphonic style of Haydn and Mozart in a bright French light. One could call it the music of eternal youth: the composer was only seventeen. An early hit by the man who would go on to compose the hugely popular opera Carmen.