Má Vlast: Prague Spring Festival (2014)

Is there any more evocative piece of national music than "Ma Vlast"? Smetana's six orchestral poems - the most famous of which is "Vltava" (The Moldau) with its instantly recognizable melody and evocation of this great river - tell of Bohemia's lands and legends.
The Czech Philharmonic, with Jiri Belohlavek as Music Director and Chief Conductor, have a unique quality amongst international orchestras, described by The Daily Telegraph as "something very subtle: a feeling of great power without aggression, exactitude without pedantically sharp edges, and a weight and clarity in the wind and brass."