The Cello Concerto by Dvorák is one of the most popular concertos ever written and one of Dvorák's last ever works, but a strange and rather tragic, story lies behind its composition. Renowned director Tony Palmer investigates the story behind the music in the wonderful ‘Dvorák - In Love?’.

In the early 1980s Tony Palmer visited Prague looking for books about Dvorák, at the time Czechoslovakia's most famous composer, surprisingly there were none. In September 1988 he filmed a new recording of the Cello Concerto in Prague, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the great Czech maestro Václav Neumann, the soloist was Julian Lloyd-Webber, already making a reputation as one of the leading British cellists of his generation. He went on to explore how this stunning piece of music came to existence.

‘Dvorák - In Love?’ was originally a co-production with Czechoslovak Television, but when

they saw the finished film and its political content, in tears they explained why it could not

be shown in Communist-ruled Czechoslovakia. Two years later the Russians were finally

thrown out and this film was the very first documentary to be shown on the newlyliberated

Czech television.

Region: 0 (All Regions)

Rating: E (exempt)

Duration: 52 mins

Picture Format: NTSC (all regions), 16:9, colour