My Fatherland at the DSO

Excuse my ignorance, but I'd never heard of Smetana--till last night. Thanks to a partnership between local universities and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, we landed three ninth-row center-orchestra tickets to Smetana's Ma Vlast ("My Fatherland").

So the symphony provided my daughter, her fellow-violinist friend, and me with a musical feast. The DSO served up a little polka, a lot of pastoral, and some nationalistic (in the best sense) triumphs in this patriotic suite. It was comprised of six "tone poems" written in homage to Smetana's beloved Bohemia (a region within what is today the Czech Republic).

But the chocolate topping on this bowl of ice cream came from the incomparable Pinchas Steinberg, who conducted. Imagine seventy-two minutes of intensely complex music directed by a master who'd memorized the entire score. And unlike with most symphonic performances at the Meyerson, this time Steinberg explained beforehand each of the six "poems." Though the musicians looked downright bored (some even talked!) through his lengthy explanation, this audience member appreciated knowing when to listen for stuff like the bassoon "snoring" when the Amazon woman drugged the men in a musical version of an ancient Czech myth.

The most remarkable piece of information, though, was the revelation that Smetana was entirely deaf at the time he composed Ma Vlast. At rehearsals, he knew how well the musicians were handling his masterpiece by watching the tempo and movement of the string bows. As if the music weren't inspiring enough...