Dimitrij

Janáček

Leoš Janáček, Sinfonietta (1925), performed by the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, music director, Bard Music Festival 2003 (August 16, 2003).
 
The “Symfonietta with fanfares” of Antonín Dvořák’s compatriot Leoš Janáček, which would later become the soundtrack to Haruki Murakami’s novel 1Q84, is a tribute to Janáček’s adopted hometown of Brno, which he came to see in a new light and with a new sense of belonging after the declaration of Czech independence in 1918:

"As if by a miracle, liberty was conjured up, glowing over the town. I saw myself in it. I belonged to it."

Dimitrij

Dimitrij

Bard SummerScape Opera 2017

A great nation in turmoil after the abrupt end to a ruling dynasty leaving no clear path forward. This was Russia in the Time of Troubles, the seventeenth-century period in which Antonín Dvořák set his 1882 opera Dimitrij. Conducted by Leon Botstein, a stellar cast along with the Bard Festival Chorale and the American Symphony Orchestra animate this powerful production by Anne Bogart for the 2017 Bard SummerScape Festival.

Read the Program
 

Dimitrij

Opera Talk

American Symphony Orchestra music director Leon Botstein is joined by Dvořák scholar Michael Beckerman for an insightful talk on Dimitrij and Dvořák as an opera composer.
 

Dimitrij

Director's Talk

Bard musicologist and historian Christopher Gibbs and Dimitrij stage director Anne Bogart discuss the work and the historical context in which Dvořák composed this fascinating and unjustly neglected piece.
 

Dimitrij

“Botstein and Bard SummerScape show courage, foresight and great imagination, honoring operas that larger institutions are content to ignore.  —Time Out New York

UPSTREAMING: Opera at Bard presents the musical centerpiece of the 2017 Bard SummerScape: Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s 1882 rare opera Dimitrij. Supporting content includes a recording of Janáček's Sinfonietta as performed by the American Symphony Orchestra and discussions including a lively and illuminating conversation between ASO music director Leon Botstein and noted Dvořák specialist Michael Beckerman.

Featuring:
 

• Dimitrij (2017 Bard SummerScape Opera)
• Opera Talk: Leon Botstein is joined by Dvořák scholar Michael Beckerman
• Director's Talk: Bard musicologist and historian Christopher Gibbs and Dimitrij stage director Anne Bogart
• Recording from the 2003 Bard Music Festival: Leoš Janáček, Sinfonietta