Written as Dvořák was beginning to acquire an international reputation, his Sixth Symphony blends a distinctive Czech character with homage to the Germanic composers whose influence and approval were so crucial at the time – in particular Dvořák’s mentor Brahms’s Second Symphony. Smetana’s lively overture to The Bartered Bride opens the concert, and the orchestra is joined by pianist Stephen Smithers for Shostakovich’s perennially popular second Piano Concerto.