OTD in Music History: Composer Antonin Dvorak (1841 - 1904) leads the London Philharmonic in the world premiere of his immortal Cello Concerto, with English cellist Leo Stern (1862 - 1904) playing the soloist’s part. It is immediately hailed as a masterpiece, and to this day, it is widely hailed as the finest cello concerto ever written. Upon hearing it for the first time, Dvorak's good friend Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) allegedly remarked: “Why on Earth didn’t I know that one could write a cello concerto like this? If I had only known, I would have written one myself long ago…” The first Bohemian composer to truly achieve worldwide recognition, Dvorak is notable for the strong "nationalist" bent of his music. Bedrich Smetana (1824 - 1884) -- Dvorak’s senior by 17 years -- had already laid the foundations of the Czech nationalist movement in music, and is recognized as “The Father of Czech Music” within the Czech Republic, but after Smetana’s tragic early death from syphilis, it fell to Dvorak to develop and extend this legacy in an impressive series of works that have achieved lasting popularity comparable with any music to come out of Germany, France, Italy, or Russia. The secret to Dvorak's success lies first and foremost in his incredible gift for melody, and secondarily in the instantly recognizable and delightfully fresh Czech folk character displayed in much of his best music. Dvorak composed in all major musical genres, and his oeuvre contains works that can justifiably be hailed as true masterpieces in every single major form – a very unusual accomplishment, even among the rarified ranks of “the great composers.” PICTURED: A beautiful “Imperial”-sized cabinet photograph of Dvorak, which Dvorak signed and inscribed to Hungarian music critic Andor Merkler in Budapest in 1899. This photo was signed on the occasion of the first performance of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto to take place with Dvorak conducting *and* Hanus Wihan serving as the soloist. (Wihan was the cellist who had requested that Dvorak write the concerto, as well as the dedicatee of the work – but for logistical reasons, Stern had ended up giving the world premiere several years earlier.)
