Bedrich Smetana Ma vlast [My Fatherland] : Vltava [Die Moldau] Harnoncourt Concertgebow

Nikolaus Harnoncourt contucts Royal Concertgebow Orchestra Bedrich Smetana : Vltava, also known by its German name Die Moldau (or The Moldau), composed in 1874 The composition describes the course of the Vltava river, starting from the two small springs, the Cold and Warm Vltava, to the unification of both streams into a single current, the course of the Vltava through woods and meadows, through landscapes where a farmer's wedding is celebrated, the round dance of the mermaids in the night's moonshine: on the nearby rocks loom proud castles, palaces and ruins aloft. The Vltava swirls into the St John's Rapids; then it widens and flows toward Prague, past the Vyšehrad, and then majestically vanishes into the distance, ending at the Labe (or Elbe, in German).