‘Belgian National Orchestra, Hermus & Power’

Fleeing the Second World War, Hungarian composer Béla Bartók spent his final years in America. Composed for the Scottish violist William Primrose, his last (unfinished) work is a particularly virtuosic concerto for viola, quite masculine and sometimes dark, with an exhilarating finale referencing the folk music that fascinated him so much in his youth.

Antonín Dvořák's Eighth Symphony, bathed in sunlight, overflows with vital and optimistic energy. While in form, this work is directly influenced by Beethoven and Brahms, its content is undeniably Czech. A profusion of melodies inspired by the folk music of Bohemia creates a general bucolic euphoria: how good it is to live in a world filled with natural wonders.