Smetana: Dalibor ****
Jiří Bělohlávek/BBC Symphony Orchestra, Barbican, 2nd May 2015
“What Czech does not like music?” declares Beneš, the jailor in Smetana’s opera Dalibor. Certainly not Jiří Bělohlávek, who is as superb an advocate for Czech music as any conductor in the world right now. As principal conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, he recently brought his orchestra on a UK tour, but this evening he returned to his old stamping ground, the Barbican, for an operatic rarity. That he can make the BBC Symphony Orchestra sound so idiomatic in this repertoire is the mark of a fine musician.
Dana Burešová (Milada) and Alžběta Poláčková (Jitka)
© Mark Allan | BBC
Read the full review on Bachtrack.