 Petr Popelka n’y sera pas allé par quatre chemins : la verdeur de son orchestre, la furia des rythmes, l’âpreté des phrasés, l’éloquence et la fougue qu’il déploie semblent laver à grande eau la part symphonique du legs de Smetana. Vertigineuse, sa relecture de "Ma Patrie" fait oublier tant de versions simplement symphoniques : on voit les collines et les près, on tremble devant les violences de Blanik, la Moldau jaillit et rêve comme jamais depuis Talich, Fricsay ou Ancerl, affaire d’orchestre absolument, suractif, bouillonnant, qui ne doit plus rien aux modèles germaniques. Replaçant l’univers Smetana a la source de la nouvelle musique Tchèque, Petr Popelka et sa formation soulignent les audaces qui parcourent les poèmes symphoniques, et ce n’est pas Dvorak qui semble devoir en découler, mais bien Janacek, même la "Symphonie triomphale" qui souvent tire à la ligne est revisitée par tant de verve. Un ajout achève de rendre l’album précieux : la splendide transcription du premier Quatuor selon George Szell, écoutez seulement… (Discophilia - Artalinna.com) (Jean-Charles Hoffelé) Within a mere few years, Petr Popelka has established himself as one of the world’s most exciting young conductors. Serving as principal conductor of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Wiener Symphoniker, he has also appeared as a guest with prominent European and American orchestras, as well as at opera houses worldwide. Popelka does not view Bedrich Smetana’s legacy as an obligatory Czech national classic, but rather as an object of love and vital artistic quest. “His ultimate masterpiece, My Country, should be approached a bit like an opera, as a great story …. As a cycle of tone poems based on the theme of the homeland, it is absolutely unique in the history of music. Most significantly, there is not a work written with greater love.” Popelka’s recording is not just yet another addition to the immense number of recordings of My Country. Bringing to bear his great musicality and acute sense of detail, the conductor and the orchestra have modelled a truly exceptional form. Popelka’s album features other germs too. String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, “From My Life”, hailing from Smetana’s mature period, when the composer was completely deaf, in George Szell’s brilliant orchestration. In contrast, Smetana’s early music is represented by the Triumphal Symphony, dedicated to the wedding of the 24-year-old Emperor Franz Joseph I to Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria, and three “Swedish” Liszt-inspired symphonic poems, based on dramas as immense as Shakespeare’s Richard III and Schiller’s Wallenstein. The extraordinary album marks the 200th anniversary of Smetana’s birth. Lovers of spatial sound will certainly relish streaming My Country in the Dolby Atmos format.
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