Prague Symphony Orchestra with Pietari Inkinen and Laura Van der Heijden (cello)

Smetana’s helter-skelter overture and three zestful dances from The Bartered Bride opens this return visit by the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Continuing this all-Czech programme is the brilliant young British cellist, Laura Van der Heijden, winner of BBC Young Musician 2012. She performs Martinu’s agile, engaging First Cello Concerto, influenced by the baroque concerto grossi of Corelli, but speaking with a Bohemian voice, particularly in the tender slow movement. Dvorák’s final symphony was first performed in New York, where he’d served as the Director of the National Conservatory of Music. The wide-open spaces of his adopted country are felt in its expansive span and muscular gestures, with echoes of the musical traditions of its African American and Native American populations, but the symphony’s folk-infused melodies also look back to his Bohemian homeland. Few examples of musical fusion have been more successful and the 'New World' Symphony is no less popular over a century later.

Pre-concert talk, 6.20pm in the auditorium: Laura Van der Heijden in conversation.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @RoyalNottingham #Nottinghamclassics