A prosthetic heart valve (40) for implant at an aortic annulus, comprising:an elongate rod-like flexible stent (46, 250, 280, 290, 300, 310, 320) having alternating inflow cusps (60) and outflow commissures (62) made of an elastic materiala plurality of flexible leaflets (42) attached to the stent so as to form a one-way valve within the stent anda suture-permeable connecting band (48) attached to the stent providing an interface between the valve and surrounding host tissue, wherein the connecting band shape mimics the alternating stent cusps and commissures and provides a flexible interface for suturing that conforms to a natural aortic root, andwherein the flexible stent is relatively more rigid than the leaflets and connecting band and acts to limit total flexibility of the valve, and wherein the stent is flexible to permit the cusps to move radially relative to each other about the commissures, and wherein the connecting band defines axial gaps (142) opening in the inflow direction between the cusps of the stent to minimize interference with pivoting movement of the stent cusps.
