Karina Canellakis conducts Dvořák and Janáček — With Asmik Grigorian, Jennifer Johnston, Jan Martiník...

The concert opens with a work by Canadian composer and pianist Zosha Di Castri, entitled Long Is The Journey, Short Is The Memory. Composed in 2019, the mysterious and innovative piece celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and humankind’s first steps on the moon on July 21, 1969. Di Castri’s piece is followed by Dvořák’s The Golden Spinning Wheel, based on a ballad collection by Czech author Karel Erben. The symphonic poem narrates the encounter between a king and a beautiful young woman, Dora, with whom the monarch falls in love—but who is murdered by her stepmother who plans to marry her own daughter to the king. Fortunately, the ballad has a happy ending—a rare occurrence with Erben, whose fairy tales usually have a tragic ending. The evening concludes beautifully with Leoš Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, a remarkable celebration of Slavic culture. The soloists and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, under the masterly direction of Karina Canellakis, give a stunning performance of the piece, concluding with a fanfare and thunderous applause!