Slavonic Dances are
a series which is in all possible ways underestimated.
Rhythms, orchestral colours, it's like fireworks of
an orchestra in the 19th century.
It is really a piece of genius.
Why do I want to present them in their entirety?
Because they work that way.
They're two series, one and two,
both containing eight dances
and they are really meant to follow each other
and to be played as a whole, not just selected ones.
In our case, we're presenting them
in two different programmes,
which works too and I'm very happy about it,
and with an orchestra of the Philharmonia Orchestra's qualities,
you can really enjoy the details.
Now the first series with those first eight dances,
its inspiration is more in Bohemia and Moravia,
in the Czech lands, typical dances for that area.
Given the success of that series, a couple of years later
Dvořák composed the second series
which remain Slavonic, as the title says,
but the inspiration is a bit wider.
So it gets more to the east,
you can hear dances which have Ukrainian origins,
you know, these dumka type of dances.
You can hear one dance which has Yugoslav origins,
you know, Serbian kolo.
Simply, the inspiration is wider.
There was a rather popular idea at one point in 19th century
that all Slavs could actually unite themselves
in a kind of United States of Slavic people,
which never took place in reality,
but it was one of the relevant political ideas
and I think Dvořák, without being
too much interested in politics,
subscribed to this Commonwealth of Slavic people
and presented the beauties of their genuine
folk traditions in his cycle.
What is interesting about the second series is
that it means a step further in
being a bit more daring in not doing
the obvious popular thing.
So Dvořák, for instance, inserts much more
contemplative music into the dances
so it's about getting deeper, even if it means
being a bit less popular than with the first series.
What I think is interesting about our
geographical area, what we tend to call Middle Europe,
there's still this idea that the typical dances
of the place, which would be,
if I make really a very black and white statement,
would be polka and waltz,
are taught
when you are a teenager.
I mean a lot of people find it old-fashioned and
the teenagers often laugh at it and so on,
nevertheless they go.
It's something really important, you know,
the way you learn what it means to dance
with a partner for instance, you know.
All these subtleties of social life in the dance
are still, I think, present to some extent.
It definitely was as I was a child in the '90s.
But for me personally, dance is something
I want to embrace in my life.
And if nothing else, then a bit on the conductor's podium.
I think Slavonic Dances genuinely are like a fan of
varieties and there's really something for everyone
in that variety.
Each series, eight numbers, one more beautiful than another
and it's really possible to choose your favourite one,
your jewel, you want to pick and wear,
which means to listen to it once more.
That's my ultimate wish.