Symphonies No. 2 & No. 6 (Antonin Dvorák )

Dvo%26%23345%3B%26aacute%3Bk+composed+the+first+two+of+his+nine+symphonies+in+1865%2C+when+he+was+sharing+a+crowded+flat+in+central+Prague+and+earning+a+meagre+living+as+a+violist+in+the+orchestra+of+the+Provisional+Theatre.+He+entered+the+score+of+the+First+for+a+competition+in+Germany%2C+and+it+was+not+returned+%28it+resurfaced+long+after+his+death%29.+So%2C+as+he+later+recalled%2C+he+%26ldquo%3Bsat+down+and+wrote+another%26rdquo%3B.+He+composed+this+Second+Symphony+between+August+and+early+October+1865%2C+and+revised+it+shortly+afterwards%2C+though+at+that+stage+without+any+prospect+of+it+being+played.+In+1887%2C+by+which+time+he+had+achieved+a+position+of+eminence+in+Czech+musical+life%2C+he+reworked+it+again%2C+making+numerous+changes+of+detail+and+some+cuts%2C+in+the+hope+of+persuading+his+publisher+Simrock+to+issue+it.+In+this+he+was+unsuccessful%3A+the+work+was+to+reach+print+only+in+1959%2C+as+part+of+the+Dvo%26%23345%3B%26aacute%3Bk+complete+edition.+But+he+did+secure+a+performance%2C+in+a+concert+conducted+by+Adolf+%26%23268%3Bech+in+the+Rudolfinum+in+Prague+in+March+1888+%26ndash%3B+for+which+event+he+made+yet+more+changes%2C+including+further+cuts+apparently+pencilled+into+the+score+during+rehearsals.+These%2C+marked+as+optional+in+the+complete+edition%2C+are+observed+in+this+recording+%28and+the+long+exposition+repeat+in+the+first+movement+is+omitted%29.%3Cbr+%2F%3E%26hellip%3BDvo%26%23345%3B%26aacute%3Bk%26rsquo%3Bs+Sixth+Symphony+dates+from+the+years+when+the+composer%26rsquo%3Bs+reputation+was+spreading+rapidly+from+his+native+Bohemia+to+the+rest+of+Europe+and+beyond.+It+was+written+in+just+seven+weeks+between+August+and+October+1880%2C+in+response+to+a+request+from+the+great+conductor+Hans+Richter+for+a+work+he+could+perform+with+the+Vienna+Philharmonic+Orchestra.+But+the+planned+Viennese+premiere+twice+failed+to+materialise%2C+apparently+because+of+some+anti-Czech+feeling+in+the+orchestra%3B+the+first+performance+was+eventually+given+in+Prague+in+March+1881%2C+in+a+concert+conducted+by+Adolf+%26%23268%3Bech+in+the+concert+hall+on+%8Eof%26iacute%3Bn+Island.+Richter+nevertheless+received+the+dedication+of+the+work+when+it+was+published+by+Simrock+at+the+end+of+the+same+year+%26ndash%3B+becoming+Dvo%26%23345%3B%26aacute%3Bk%26rsquo%3Bs+first+symphony+to+appear+in+print.+Because+of+this+rapid+publication+and+the+mature+composer%26rsquo%3Bs+greater+expertise%2C+the+work+was+not+subjected+to+the+same+thoroughgoing+revision+as+the+early+symphonies.+But%2C+as+the+editors+of+the+Dvo%26%23345%3B%26aacute%3Bk+complete+edition+report%2C+the+Czech+Philharmonic+Orchestra+possesses+a+copy+of+the+printed+score+in+which+Dvo%26%23345%3B%26aacute%3Bk+wrote+at+the+end+of+the+exposition+of+the+first+movement+%26ldquo%3BOnce+and+for+all+without+repetition%26rdquo%3B%3A+his+instruction+is+followed+in+this+recording%26hellip%3B%28excerpts+from+the+CD+linernote+by+Anthony+Burton+%26copy%3B+2011%29+%26nbsp%3B%3Cbr+%2F%3E%3Cbr+%2F%3E