Jakub Hrůša comes from Brno, the same city where Leoš Janáček spent most of his life. Perhaps this is why he feels so close to Janáček’s music, which reflects the rhythms of the Czech language and the magic of Moravia’s nature. Take the opera The Cunning Little Vixen, for example. It tells the story of a clever little fox who is caught by a forester, frees herself, starts a fox family, and is shot by a poacher at the bitter end. Hrůša has compiled a “Grand Suite” from the opera that tells the whole story without words or song: a declaration of love for this ravishing work. Hrůša will also be completely in his element in Bedřich Smetana’s most famous piece, the indelible Vltava, guiding us through its paradisiacal Bohemian landscapes. The Vienna Philharmonic will then put all its virtuosity on display in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, the finale of which features a quotation from the liturgical “Dies irae”: hell or paradise — that is the question here. Rachmaninoff answers it with a paraphrase of the “Hallelujah” from his All-Night Vigil. And we may hope.
