Symphony Tacoma: Celebrate Classical Influences from Bohemia in Classics III

Symphony Tacoma looks to Eastern Europe and expressions of love for its third of six classics concerts in its 75th Anniversary Season. This concert, featuring violinist Bella Hristova, was originally scheduled for the 2020-21 season but was rescheduled when live performances were canceled due to the pandemic.

“I am so happy to finally bring back this concert!” Music Director Sarah Ioannides. “I hope its messages of love and revelation will be more touching and poignant than ever—since we have been apart, the striking beauty of live music is felt more richly than ever before.”

The concert begins with Bedřich Smetana’s Vlata, a love letter to his homeland. Considered the father of Czech music, Smetana captured his country’s musical style in Vlast, a set of six symphonic poems that portray the history, legends, landscapes and folklore of Bohemia. The most famous of this set, The Moldau, is a tone poem based on the Vlata River (its Czech name). The work depicts the flow of the river from the mountains, through the Czech countryside to the city of Prague, and ultimately to its merge with the Elbe as it flows out to sea.