Drp/Inkinen - Anton�n Dvo?�k: Symphony No. 2, Dramatic overture, Overture to Armida

Using the title Tragic Overture the piece was played for the first time at a concert given by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra on 4 January 1905, several months after Dvo?�k�s death. The title Dramatic Overture that is normally used might be easily confused with the Hussit Overture, Op.7, which is known by the same title. Rusalka (1901) marked Dvo?�k�s late breakthrough as an opera composer, after which he began exploring possibilities for his next opera and came across the possibility of a new libretto in Jaroslav Vrchlick��s Armida. The work is especially noteworthy for Dvo?�k�s independent and imaginative use of the leitmotif and the way he set the exotic tonal landscape of the East to music. But the premiere on 25 March 1904 was only a modest success. Dvo?�k died a few weeks later, on 1 May. Nowadays Armida is rarely performed only the overture which includes themes of the opera has survived as a concert piece.