Jiří Bělohlávek conducts Dvořák's Symphony No. 3

Continue your exploration of Antonín Dvořák’s cycle of nine symphonies with this performance of the Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, conducted in 2014 by Jiří Bělohlávek at the helm of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

A pivotal work composed in 1873 that marked the young composer’s coming of age, the symphony reveals an artistic language in full maturation, still influenced by Germanic music but already animated by Dvořák’s own expressive drive. Under Bělohlávek’s attentive baton, the orchestra brings out the grandeur of the first movement, the contrasting depth of the slow movement, and the rhythmic energy of the finale, highlighting both the formal ambition and the poetic sensibility of this rarely performed score, which foreshadows the composer’s future symphonic achievements.

Photo © Petra Hajska