Index – Culture – Hungarian Concerto – Live broadcast from the Academy of Music on the Index
The program, which starts at 7.30 pm, will feature the following works in the Great Hall of the Academy of Music:
LIGETI: Concerto Românesc.
I. Andantino
II. Allegro vivace
III. Adagio ma non troppo
ARC. Molto vivace
Performed by Concerto Budapest, conducted by András Keller
Concerto RomânescIn the 19th century, Ligeti used Romanian folk melodies from his own collection and from the collection of the Bucharest Institute of Folk Art. Listening with today’s ears, it’s hard to imagine why the state socialist regime banned the play in 1951 right after the first rehearsal, since – Ligeti’s later works are by no means typical – this work retains the framework of tonal music. Four short movements of the piece attacca it follows one another, and always a different instrument is given a solo role, in the third movement, for example, the horn with natural tuning, using the valves. The finale – just like Bartók Concertstarts with a brass band from which an almost chased dance movement emerges.
VERESS: Concertotilinko
It is performed by the Concerto Budapest, conducted by András Keller, and played by Orsolya Kaczander on flute.
At the end of Sándor Veress’s life, in his title Concertotilinko written in 1991, he refers to a Hungarian folk shepherd’s instrument: the tilinko is a flute that sounds the sounds of an overtone, the pitch of which can be controlled by the opening at the end; this instrument is represented in the work of Veress by the solo of the flute. The one-item, short work is based on a twelve lines, which can be seen right at the beginning of the work, in the voice of the viola, yet we cannot speak of dodecaphony in the Schönberg sense, as the composer uses this Reich with a high degree of freedom.
WEINER: Concertino for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 15
I. Allegro amabile, quasi allegretto
II. Vivace – Allegro giocoso
It is performed by Concerto Budapest, conducted by András Keller, and played by Dénes Várjon on piano.
Leo Weiner’s Concertino was written for piano and orchestra in 1923. The diminutive form of the title also indicates that the piece consists of only two items, which best fits into the 19th century competition tradition. His first, pentatonic, sensitive movement is one of the most beautiful examples of musical Art Nouveau, and his second movement enchants its listener with its light playfulness.
During the break you can see the audience from the form-breaking concert film Carpathian Rhapsody directed by András Szabó Stein
NÁDOR: Violin Competition
I. Andante con moto
II. Larghetto
III. Allegro giusto
Performed by Concerto Budapest, conducted by András Keller, soloist Barnabás Kelemen
Even in musical circles, few people know the name of Mihály Nádor, who was the chief music director and conductor of the Operetta Theater and an excellent violinist. He has mostly composed in the light music genres of the age, but there are also some of his more serious works, including his only violin concerto, which he composed as the culmination of his studies at the Akademie der Tonkunston in Munich. However, the piece became so difficult that he ended up not being able to play it himself – it premiered only in 2013 at Carnegie Hall in New York in a performance by Barnabas Kelemen, and he finally plays this extremely virtuoso piece.
BARTÓK: Concerto for orchestra, BB 123
I. Introduzione. Andante non troppo
II. Presentando le coppie. Allegro scherzando
III. Elegy. Andante non troppo
ARC. Intermezzo interrotto. Allegretto
V. Finale. Pesante – Presto
Performed by Concerto Budapest, conducted by András Keller
A worthy closing is not only the concert, but also the iconic work of Bartók, the whole Hungarian Treasure Festival, the Concerto for orchestra, given at the request of Serge Kousvitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, composed in the United States at the end of his life in 1943.
THE Concert Bartók hadn’t composed anything for a long time – he was tormented by a torturous homesickness in noisy New York, and at that time it turned out that he was leukemic. However, the order and his summer residence, the refreshing peace of Saranac Lake, shook him out of his creative crisis.
THE Concert his genre, as in many other Bartók works, cannot be precisely defined: the influence of Bach’s Brandenburg competitions can be felt in it, the peculiarities of the symphony can be discovered in it, and although Bartók himself did not give a program, he can feel a kind of narrative behind most movements. The introduction a Castle of the Bluebeard Princerecalls the music of the work and foreshadows the later themes of the work. The second, Couples dancing The influence of baroque music is felt most in the movement, while the middle, Elegy in batch – again one Bluebeardreference, a Tears of Lakewe can hear the beginning of it – the feeling of homesickness is visible.
The most exciting item is Interrupted interlude, a serenade to Hungary, speaks three quotes: Vincs Zsigmond Hamburg bride operetta You are beautiful, you are beautiful, Hungary beginning melody, as well as Shostakovich VII. symphonicwhich is itself a quote from Lehar The merry widowfrom. The work ends with a lively, vibrant dance finale.