Ravel: Spanish Rhapsody
Rachmaninov: Paganini Rhapsody ***
Liszt: 2nd Hungarian Rhapsody
Gershwin: Blue Rhapsody
Pianist János Balázs, the featured artist of Concerto Budapest’s season and a worthy representative of György Cziffra’s unparalleled intellectual and artistic legacy, will introduce the audience to the mysteries of the rhapsody as a musical genre with the orchestra and András Keller conducting. A loosely structured instrumental work, often based on folk motifs, with an imaginative character – that is the definition of the four masterpieces that will be performed this evening at the Cziffra Festival, which are not so different in age but very different in musical background. With its Andalusian motifs, the rhapsody by the Basque-born Ravel is “more Spanish than the Spaniards themselves”, as the concert opens. This is followed by Rachmaninoff’s composition in the Italian virtuoso tradition, in which the Russian-born master, who emigrated to the United States, chose the famous theme from Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 as the starting point for his work. The same theme was also used by Franz Liszt, but this time it was his second rhapsody. The theme also features Romanian folk music motifs alongside Hungarian ones, an excellent lead-in to the finale’s real crowd favourite, Gershwin’s Blue Rhapsody, known for its synthesis-generating qualities, in which the composer, who is also at home in the world of revues, draws on the most distinctive American motifs.
Joint concert of the Cziffra Festival and Concerto Budapest.
Sponsors:Prime Minister’s Office, Bethlen Gábor Fund Management Ltd., Ministry of Culture and Innovation