BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jiri Belohlavek

Barbican Hall, 2 May 2015

Such are the vagaries of fashion that even today Smetana’s tragic opera Dalibor is rarely heard, yet when it is its impression is overwhelming. This is the composer at his most romantic and heroic, able to translate the shifting emotions of the narrative into long sweeping musical paragraphs within which there are frequent moments of outstanding beauty. Dalibor’s reflection of his death and rapid meeting with his dead friend Zdenek, the intensity of the love duet and the nuanced choral settings are just of few obvious examples. The changes in style, which at first can seem unnerving, are, on reflection, in keeping with the social setting. The long first act, and the opening of act three, are both formal public gatherings, while most of the rest of the work is intimate and personal. Smetana matches the orchestration to the event so that while we may feel as if the opening is close to Lohengrin the whole work is not focussed that way and any Wagnerian moments are accidental rather than deliberate.

The chorus are important but always distanced, physically so in the Barbican Hall, and this seemed appropriate. Even the lusty Mercenaries chorus, harking back to Weber’s Huntsmen, are somehow off-stage even when at their most enthusiastic.

The Czech cast were probably about as good as one could wish for. Dana Buresova’s Milada has a ringing top to the voice and a subtle sense of humour when she needed it in the prison scenes. Richard Samek proved an heroic Dalibor, even if there were occasional moments when his voice seemed under strain. No such problems for Ivan Kusnjer’s King who dominated the evening and made political sense of Dalibor’s death even if the story may beg for a happier ending.

There are few better interpreters of Czech music than Jiri Belohlavek and he rose to the challenges of the score with absolute conviction. The BBC Symphony orchestra responded with an extrovert enthusiasm which convinced us that this really is a work which should be in the regular canon.

It was being recorded for later transmission but no date is currently available. Keep a look out for it and save it – you will not regret it.