Antonín Dvořák’s success in Europe during the 1880s led to invitations to visit England and the commissioning of his oratorio Saint Ludmila for the Leeds Festival. It tells the moving and turbulent story of Ludmila’s conversion to Christianity, an important event in Bohemian history that led to her becoming Bohemia’s patron saint. Written for large forces and with a predominant part for the chorus in the tradition of Handel, Saint Ludmila is full of Dvořák’s typical warmth and melodic beauty, and stands alongside his Stabat Mater and Requiem as one of his greatest works.

Dvořák’s Saint Ludmila is less well-known than his other choral masterpieces the Stabat Mater and Requiem, but belongs firmly in their ranks in terms of its substance and quality. Naxos has had notable success with the release of the Requiem (857287475) produced in Warsaw and conducted by Antoni Wit, which was given a ‘10/10’ score by ClassicsToday.com.

Leoš Svárovský has conducted numerous successful recordings, including Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass considered ‘as good as it gets’ by ClassicsToday.com. His Naxos recording of Smetana’s Swedish Symphonic Poems (8573597) with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra was released in January 2019. Svárovský recently conducted Saint Ludmila at the Rheingau Festival in Germany with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, and in May 2019 he will conduct the work at a subscription concert of the Czech Philharmonic Choir in Brno.

There is a particularly strong quintet of soloists for this recording, including internationally renowned operatic soprano Adriana Kohútková, and Tomáš Černý, a Dvořák specialist and one of the most outstanding Czech tenors of his generation.