BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA CONCERTS

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1 BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA CONCERTS

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3 CELEBRATE WITH US!

4 GREETINGS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Well, it s anniversary time again! Time flies: we just had the twentieth, and the twenty-fifth, now we have our thirtieth anniversary... And yet I feel as if our first concert at the Academy of Music in 1983 was only yesterday. Not to mention the fact that those who were there in the concert hall and whom I often see today are so youthful that it is difficult to believe thirty years have passed since then. But we have to celebrate something. First of all, continuity. We have witnessed all sorts of things, political and economic changes, economic crises, a blockade by taxi drivers, the seige of the TV headquarters, the red sludge disaster, huge snowfalls... In the meantime, the orchestra has grown up and has come of age. We have managed to play music undisturbed, bring joy and create our own celebrations continuously, and without any interruption. This is what we should celebrate! Many times have I uttered the phrase: I would not have thought that thirty years ago. Of course, the plan was to establish the best orchestra in the world, multiply the number of concert-goers in Hungary, conquer the world, make recordings, which will serve as benchmarks, extend our repertoire to include both early and the most contemporary music, and to play music happily in a great atmosphere. But I did not expect we would actually achieve all of this. The real miracle in the life of the Festival Orchestra is that were we to meet our young selves in the street, just like the protagonist in the short story by Karinthy, the encounter would not be embarrassing. This is a success that our audience can also claim to be part of. Those who were there decades ago and have been with us ever since can deservedly put on a proud smile now. Thirty years, oh my Lord! What a long time! Those who buried us from time to time, and wrote our obituaries, were obviously not right. Nevertheless, I would also like to express my gratitude to them because such things can also be a source of strength. 2 Iván Fischer

5 GREETINGS DEAR MUSIC LOVERS! The concert season will be a very special seasoninthelifeofthebudapestfestivalorchestra,inallrespects.on26december 2013 we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of our orchestra, of your orchestra. In its first three decades the Budapest Festival Orchestra has given exciting and memorable concert experiences to music lovers in Budapest and around the world, putting smiles on their faces. During this period, considered short in the life of a symphonic orchestra, the Festival Orchestra has delivered a quite unique performance: it is not only ranked amongst the world's ten best orchestras but with its quality and passion in music making it helps classical music to survive by presenting it with exceptional magic and intensity. We are delighted to have the opportunity to celebrate this anniversary with you, the friends and fans of the Budapest Festival Orchestra: at the Budapest Congress Centre on the thirtieth anniversary day of the first concert in 1983, and during the whole season, which promises a colourful and exciting programme. The season will start with a new festival called Bridging Europe Európai Hidak. The concerts in this series of events are dedicated to European nations with outstanding musical heritage in 2013 we will focus on the Czech Republic: in addition to presenting compositions our Festival also wishes to emphazise the role of music and culture in shaping European identity. In the coming season we are really going to set the fireworks off. With guest performers, Garrick Ohlsson, Maria Joao Pires, Martha Argerich, Leonidas Kavakos and Pinchas Zuckerman, we will be presenting a Who is Who in classical music. As a cultural ambassador of Hungary, the Festival Orchestra will also present the unique Hungarian culture in the largest music hubs of the world. In the forthcoming months the BFO will again take part in the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York and in the Lucerne Festival, but there will also be performances in Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Shanghai and Beijing. Let me take this opportunity to express my thanks to everyone who has made this colourful season possible: to Iván Fischer, to our supporters, and first and foremost to you, our audience, for supporting the orchestra over the past thirty years with your love and loyalty. Stay with us in the future. Stefan Englert 3

6 30 YEARS BFO Key events in the history of the Budapest Festival Orchestra: first concert on 26 December. (Budapest, Academy of Music) 1989 first concert in London, first concert with Sándor Végh 1991 first Budapest Farewell (Budapesti Búcsú) concert first opera performance (Mozart: The Magic Flute) 1992 BFO Foundation is established and reaches an agreement with the Budapest City Council, BFO becomes a permanent orchestra (on 24 September the BFO gives its first concert as a permanent orchestra), the former Óbuda cinema becomes the rehearsal venue of the orchestra 1993 first summer Baroque Festival first performance at the Salzburger Festspiele protest concert against the Balkan war on Heroes Square in Budapest 1994 concerts in Budapest with Yehudi Menuhin first overseas tour (United States, Canada) 1995 concert in Budapest with Georg Solti, followed by a European concert tour, first Asian tour (Japan) 1996 cooperation between BFO and Philips starts 1997 Georg Solti becomes honorary conductor of BFO debut at the Edinburgh Festival 1998 Gramophone award for Bartók recording: The Miraculous Mandarin (Philips) 2000 cooperation between BFO Foundation and Budapest City Council renewed 2003 cooperation between BFO and Channel Classics starts first season with financial support of Ministry of Culture 2005 first Mahler Festival 2006 Dutch Music Award 2007 Gramophone Award for recording of Mahler s Symphony No. 2. (Channel Classics) 2008 voted as 9th best orchestra in the world by leading music critics in the Gramophone magazine ranking first Marathon (Tchaikovsky) 2012 Gábor Takács-Nagy becomes first guest conductor of BFO 2013 Grammy award nomination for recording of Mahler s Symphony No. 1. (Channel Classics) first Bridging Europe Európai Hidak Festival

7 30 YEARS BFO One of the greatest success stories of Hungarian culture in recent decades started at Christmas 1983 at the Academy of Music in Budapest when the Festival Orchestra made its debut. There were two reasons why the orchestra was called the Festival Orchestra: originally, it was to be brought together and play on festive occasions, while according to the founders creed, every concert should be a solemn occasion, a celebration, a gala. With his orchestra, Iván Fischer wanted to overcome the feeling of frustration he had regularly been overwhelmed with when working with other orchestras. From the very outset he transformed the traditional relationship between the conductor and the orchestra: I wanted an orchestra in which musicians preserve their individual characters and the creativity which they were taught to foster at the Academy. There is a huge divide between professional training at the Academy of Music and the work in an orchestra. During their academic years, young musicians are encouraged to have their own styles and vision of music, whereas in an orchestra, personal input is not expected in the least, far less demanded. The Festival Orchestra functioning in a novel structure has from the very beginning maintained its experimental spirit, shaping and reshaping orchestral work in the name of constant renewal. The initiatives, the unique manner of rehearsing, the new types of concerts from the Cocoa concerts to projects targeting young audiences have been the subject of various studies all over the world. According to the critics of the renowned classical music magazine, Gramophone, the Budapest Festival Orchestra is ranked 9th on the list of the world s best orchestras. This judgement is, of course, subjective. However, it is not coincidental that the Festival Orchestra has already attracted so many fans with its personality, enthusiasm, unmistakeable sound and intensity of performance. Maybe this was what the audience felt during that very first concert thirty years ago at the Academy of Music, Who knows FOUNDERS OF BFO FOUNDATION Budapest Bank Rt.. Fővárosi Gázművek Rt. Shell Hungária Kereskedelmi Kft.. Philips Magyarország Kft.. Coopholding Rt.. ÁB-AEGON Általános Biz tosító Rt.. Inter-Európa Bank Rt.. Interag Rt. Kere ske delmi és Hitelbank Rt.. PricewaterhouseCoopers. Hibtrade International Ltd.. Általános Értékforgalmi Bank Rt.. BNP-Dresdner Bank (Hungaria) Rt.. MATÁV. HungarHotels Rt.. Mavad Rt.. Budapesti Fesztivál zenekar Egyesület 5

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10 IVÁN FISCHER 8 FOUNDER AND MUSIC DIRECTOR Iván Fischer is founder and Music Director of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. The partnership between Iván Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra has proved to be one of the greatest success stories in the past three decades of classical music. Intense international touring and a series of acclaimed recordings for Philips Classics, later for Channel Classics have contributed to Iván Fischer's reputation as one of the world's most visionary and successful orchestra leaders. He has developed and introduced new types of concerts, cocoa-concerts for young children, Midnight Music concerts for students, surprise concerts where the programme is not announced, one forint concerts where he talks to the audience, open-air concerts in Budapest attracting tens of thousands of people. He has founded several festivals, including a summer festival in Budapest on baroque music and the Budapest Mahlerfest which is also a forum for commissioning and presenting new compositions. As a guest conductor Fischer works with the finest symphony orchestras of the world. He has been invited to the Berlin Philharmonic more than ten times, he leads every year two weeks of programs with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and appears with leading US symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra. Earlier music director of Kent Opera and Lyon Opera, Principal Conductor of National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, his numerous recordings have won several prestigious international prizes. Iván Fischer studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest, continuing his education in Vienna in Professor Hans Swarowsky s conducting class. Recently he has been also active as a composer: his works have been performed in the US, Holland, Hungary, Germany and Austria, and he staged successful opera performances. Mr. Fischer is a founder of the Hungarian Mahler Society, and Patron of the British Kodály Academy. He received the Golden Medal Award from the President of the Republic of Hungary, and the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum for his services to help international cultural relations. The French Government named him Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. In 2006 he was honored with the Kossuth Prize, Hungary s most prestigious arts award. He is honorary citizen of Budapest. In 2011 he received the Royal Philharmonic Award and the Dutch Ovatie prize. In 2013 he was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music in London. As of August 2011 Iván Fischer is music director of the Konzerthaus Berlin and principal conductor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin.

11 GÁBOR TAKÁCS-NAGY IN SEPTEMBER 2012 Gábor Takács-Nagy was nominated Principal Guest Conductor of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. A native of Budapest, Gábor Takács-Nagy began to study the violin at the age of eight. As a student of the Franz Liszt Academy, he won First Prize in 1979 in the Jeno Hubay Violin Competition and later pursued studies with Nathan Milstein. From 1975 to 1992, he was founding member and leader of the acclaimed Takács Quartet performing with legendary artists Lord Menuhin, Sir Georg Solti, Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Paul Tortelier, Gidon Kremer and Andras Schiff, and was regularly invited by Sviatoslav Richter to his festivals. The Takacs Quartet made many recordings. In 1996, he founded the Takács Piano Trio and made worldpremiererecordingsofworksofhungariancomposersfranzliszt,lászlolajtha and Sandor Veress. In 1982 he was awarded the Liszt Prize. In 2002, following in a long-line of Hungarian musical contemporaries, Gábor Takács-Nagy turned to conducting. In 2005 he created his own string ensemble, the Camerata Bellerive as the orchestra-in-residence at the annual Festival de Bellerive in Geneva. In 2006 he became Music Director of the Weinberger Kammerorchestra and since August 2007 has been Music Director of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. From 2010 until 2012 he was Music Director of the MAV Symphony Orchestra Budapest. Since September 2011 he has been Music Director of Manchester Camerata. From January 2013 he is also Principal Artistic Partner of the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Gábor Takács-Nagy is a dedicated and highly sought-after chamber-music tea - cher. He is Professor of String Quartet at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva and International Chair in Chamber Music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. In June 2012 he was awarded honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Music in London. 9

12 MUSICIANS OF BFO Violin Bence Asztalos Zsuzsanna Berentés Ágnes Bíró Antónia Bodó Balázs Bujtor Csaba Czenke Györgyi Czirók Violetta Eckhardt (concertmaster) Mária Gál-Tamási Tibor Gátay Emese Gulyás Giovanni Guzzo (concertmaster) Krisztina Haják Radu Hrib Erika Illési Tímea Iván (principal) István Kádár Ernő Kiss Péter Kostyál Eszter Lesták Bedő Zsófia Lezsák Tamás Major (concertmaster) Noémi Molnár Anikó Mózes Gyöngyvér Oláh János Pilz (principal) Gábor Sipos Levente Szabó Zsolt Szefcsik Gabriella Takácsné Nagy Zoltán Tuska Viola Miklós Bányai Judit Bende Cecília Bodolai László Bolyki Ágnes Csoma Zoltán Fekete Csaba Gálfi Barna Juhász Péter Lukács (principal) István Polónyi István Rajncsák Nikoletta Reinhardt Nao Yamamoto 10 Cello László Bánk Lajos Dvorák Éva Eckhardt György Kertész Gabriella Liptai

13 Kousay Mahdi György Markó Orsolya Mód Rita Sovány Péter Szabó (principal) Double Bass Zsolt Fejérvári (principal) Károly Kaszás Géza Lajhó László Lévai Csaba Magyar Attila Martos Csaba Sipos Alajos H. Zováthy Flute Anett Jóföldi Zsuzsanna Kovács-Madai Bernadett Nagy Gabriella Pivon (principal) Erika Sebők (principal) Oboe Victor Aviat (principal) Kai Frömbgen (principal) Zsófia Magyar Eva Neuszerova Jeremy Sassano Clarinet Ákos Ács (principal) Roland Csalló Ákos Pápai Rudolf Szitka Bassoon Andrea Bressan (principal) Mihály Duffek Sándor Patkós Dániel Tallián Tamás Póti Balázs Tóth Zoltán Tóth Trombone Sándor Balogh Péter Bálint I Viktor Dániel Nagy Balázs Szakszon (principal) Csaba Wagner Norbert Zakó Tuba József Bazsinka Harp Ágnes Polónyi Júlia Szilvássy Timpani Roland Dénes Jauron Guilliam Gratiano Murcia Percussion Instruments Boglárka Fábry László Herboly (principal) István Kurcsák Gábor Pusztai Gáspár Szente Keyboard Instruments Dávid Báll Gábor Bartinai Soma Dinyés Zoltán Fejérvári Adrián Nagy László János Palojtay Miklós Spányi Horn András Balogh Dávid Bereczky Imre Kováts Miklós Nagy (principal) Zsombor Nagy András Szabó Zoltán Szőke (principal) Trumpet Zsolt Czeglédi (principal) Bence Horváth 11

14 The Budapest Festival Orchestra is one of the finest in the world, and one of the most popular of all visiting orchestras among Festival audiences. With its warm sound, top class musicians and fantastic energy it is a wonderful ambassador for Hungary and its culture. Jonathan Mills (Festival Director, Edinburgh International Festival)

15 BRIDGING EUROPE EURÓPAI HIDAK

16 FOCUS ON CZECH MUSIC AND CULTURE The first Bridging Europe Festival of the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Palace of Arts COMPOSER IN FOCUS: ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Culture brings nations closer together. Europe needs trust and friendship, and the arts play an important role in helping the integration process. Each year we would like to present the culture of a European country here in Budapest. This city, famous for its bridges over the Danube, can provide the backdrop for a festival for Europeans who wish to learn about the most wonderful cultural achievements of other Europeans. Let us build new bridges and make new friends with the help of music, art, theatre and dance. 14 Iván Fischer, Artistic Director

17 Hans Krása: Brundibár children s opera Students of the Schola Cantorum Budapestiensis conductor: Kálmán Szennai director: Eszter Novák SEPTEMBER 11 MÜPA, Festival Theatre 11th Wednesday 7:00 pm KRÁSA SZENNAI KRÁSA: BRUNDIBÁR CHILDREN S OPERA The concentration camp in Theresienstadt (Terezin) was considered a kind of show-camp. The former mili - tary headquarters was used as a transit camp. After the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the majority of Czech Jews were deported here, but prisoners from Hungary, the Netherlands, Germany and other nations were also brought here. The inhabitants were sent on to death camps, primarily to Auschwitz. The unprecedentedly cynical Nazi propaganda film entitled The Führer gives Jews a city is also set here (it was directed by legendary German actor-director, Kurt Gerron, gassed to death in Auschwitz in 1944); the purpose of the film was to show the wonderful life of Jews in concentration camps. In Theresienstadt there was a lively art life: theatrical ensembles were set up, the prisoners gave chamber and grand orchestra concerts and opera performances. Hans Krása s children s opera Brundibár is an outstanding example of these, and some moments are also included in the film mentioned above. The premiere of the opera was in 1943, in a Jewish orphanage in Prague; the composer had already been in the concentration camp for a year. His opera became the most popular piece of musical life in the camp, and was performed fifty-five times. The cast of the opera and the musicians changed constantly children were not exempt from deportation to Auschwitz, and of the five thousand children in the camp barely three hundred survived. Krása together with all the known and anonymous performers of his opera lost his life in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, sometime in October The opera is about two poor children, Aninka and Pepíček, who would like to buy milk for their mother, who is ill, but they have no money and the milkman sends them away. The children decide to sing for money, but Brundibár, the organ-grinder, sees them as his rivals and chases them away. With the help of the Dog, the Cat, the Sparrow and the animals, and with the power of friendship, the song of the children finally wins, so Aninka and Pepíček can buy milk for their mother. 15

18 DVOŘÁK FISCHER BANSE FOGAŠOVÁ BERGER MARCO- BUHRMESTER SEPTEMBER Müpa, Bartók Béla National Concert Hall 13th Friday 7:45 pm Doráti 14th Saturday 7:45 pm Ormándy Antonín Dvořák: Requiem Juliane Banse (soprano) Jolana Fogašová (mezzosoprano) Peter Berger (tenor) Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester (bass) Czech Philharmonic Choir, Brno conductor: Iván Fischer DVOŘÁK: REQUIEM After the extraordinary success in England of the largescale oratorical Dvořák pieces, Stabat mater, The Spectre s Bride and Saint Ludmilla composed in the 1870s and 1880s the two latter compositions originally commissioned for Leeds and Birmingham the Requiem was also ordered from Birmingham in The busy composer started composing only at the beginning of 1890, on the first day of the year, and due to travelling abroad he had to suspend his work several times. The partiture was ready by the end of October, and the premiere was held a year later, on 9 October 1891 in Birmingham. It was conducted by the composer himself. In the following months, the Dvořák s masterpiece was performed in other British cities, in Bohemia and in the United States. Requiem like Verdi s death mass composed seventeen years earlier was originally composed for concert venues, not for clerical purposes. JULIANE BANSE was born in Southern Germany and was brought up in Zurich. She started to play the violin at the age of five, then she studied ballet. She began her singing classes at the age of fifteen, and made her debut on the opera stage at the age of twenty-two. She is one of the busiest singer of songs and oratoria. JOLANA FOGAŠOVÁ studied at the Conservatorium in Bratislava from 1986 until 1990 when she continued her singing classes at the Academy of Music in Prague; after completing her studies she perfected her skills in Munich and at the master class of Carlo Bergonzi. 16 PETER BERGER Slovakian Peter Berger started his singing studies in the Conservatorium in Kosice. His stage career began in the State Theatre of Kosice. He participated in several master classes. He came first in 2006 at the Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavsky singing competition in Trnava. For his performance as the Prince in Dvořák s Rusalka, he was awarded the Slovak Literary Foundation award.

19 JULIANE BANSE ALEJANDRO MARCO-BUHRMESTER The Swiss-born baritone started his studies in 1984 in Berne before continuing in Basle and Zurich. He has sung in several famous German opera houses, he is a star of the Berlin Opera, a regular guest at the Festival in Bayreuth, and has made several recordings. 17

20 DVOŘÁK FISCHER OHLSSON SEPTEMBER Müpa, Bartók Béla National Concert Hall 15th Sunday 3:30 pm Reiner, Fricsay 17th Tuesday 7:45 pm Solti Antonín Dvořák: Slavonic Dances Op. 72a No. 2 & 1; Piano concerto; Legend Op.59 No. 10; Symphony No. 8 (G-major) Garrick Ohlsson (piano) conductor: Iván Fischer SLAVONIC DANCES The publication of the first series of Slavonic dances in 1878 brought international acclaim for the composer, who was already popular in his homeland at that time. The Slavonic dances with their variety, overwhel - ming joy of life and exotic character absolutely fascinated critics. After seeing the piano version for four hands, Simrock, a music publishing house in Berlin, commissioned Dvořák to compose another cycle. Simrock suggested the title Slavonic dances following the example of Brahms Hungarian dances. The instrumental dances started their worldwide career that year, casting a spell on audiences in London and Boston after Prague. PIANO CONCERTO Dvořák s only piano concerto shared the fate of Cinderella. In contrast to the outstanding composers of the 19th century, who were also recognised as concert pianists, Dvořák only performed at chamber music concerts. As opposed to his cello and violin concerto, the piano concerto has rarely been played in concert venues. Several attempts were made to save it, two outstanding Czech pianists, Vilém Kurz, and later Rudolf Firkušný retouched it to emphasise the piano part, in an effort to promote the piece. It was Sviatoslav Richter who rehabilitated and made the original version popular, and today it has started to take its well-deserved place in concert halls. 18 LEGENDS Dvořák composed Legends in The composer dedicated the series, originally intended to be a piano piece for four hands, to Eduard Hanslick, a friend of Dvořák and Brahms. Hanslick was the most influential music critic in Vienna, born in Prague. Dvořák composed the cycle after encouragement from Simrock. It was a safe bet for the publisher, who hit the jackpot by publishing Slavonic dances.

21 GARRICK OHLSSON SYMPHONY NO.8 Dvořák started to compose his Symphony No. 8 in August 1889 in his beloved apartment in the countryside in Vysoka, in a stable financial position and using all of his creative talent. It took him only two-and-a-half weeks to complete the sketches and the piece was completed by 8 November. The premiere in February 1890 was conducted by the composer himself. It was Symphony No. 8 that he conducted in 1891 in Cambridge when receiving the honorary doctoral title of this prestigious university. GARRICK OHLSSON He is considered one of the outstanding pianists of his generation, especially as one of the most inspired and authentic interpreters of Chopin. He has an extremely broad repertoire, ranging from Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert to the music of the 21st century. He has more than eighty piano concertos in his repertoire. 19

22 DOMINIQUE LABELLE

23 Pavel Josef Vejvanovský: Harmonia Romana Jan Dismas Zelenka: Soprano arias from the oratory Sub oleo pacis et palma virtutis; Capriccio No. 5. (G major) Jan Jiří Benda: Violin concerto in G major František Benda: Italian arias Jiří Antonín Benda: Symphony in D major Dominique Labelle (soprano) conductor: Nicholas McGegan SEPTEMBER 18 Müpa, Festival Theatre 18th Wednesday 7:45 pm BAROQUE NIGHT MCGEGAN LABELLE VEJVANOVSKÝ: HARMONIA ROMANA Pavel Josef Vejvanovský ( ) Czech composer, trumpet player and chorus master. We know his approximately one hundred, mostly ecclesiastical and instrumental compositions, which have been preserved in the archives of Kroměřiz castle in east Moravia and the National Museum in Prague. Vejvanovský s compositional style is influenced by the Viennese and Venetian Baroque, the beauty of his melodies and the colourful masterly instrumentation is fascinating for the listener even centuries later. ZELENKA: SOPRANO ARIAS; CAPRICCIO NO.5 Jan Dismas Zelenka ( ) is the most significant composer of the Czech Baroque. He served in the court in Dresden for decades, and was adored by Bach and Telemann. He acquired a reputation as the virtuoso violone player of the royal orchestra. His contemporaries adored him for the boldness of his music in terms of harmony and dynamics. His oratory entitled Sub olea pacis was composed in His five capriccios are the highlights of his significant instrumental oeuvre. J. J. BENDA, F. BENDA AND J. A. BENDA The Czech Benda family played an extraordinary role in the history of German music for 250 years. The oldest son, František (Franz) Benda made a remarkable career as a (concert master), and author of eighty violin sonatas and fifteen violin concertos in the Potsdam Orchestra of Frederick the Great. His younger brother, Jan Jiří (Johann Georg) Benda played the violin and the viola in the same orchestra, and was also known as a composer. The career of Jiří Antonín (Georg Anton) Benda also star - ted in the court of Frederick, he earned a significant reputation as an author of melodramas: his melodramas also influenced Mozart, who held his older colleague in high esteem. 21

24 CONTEMPORARY NIGHT VRABEL SEPTEMBER 19 Müpa, Festival Theatre 19th Thursday 7:45 pm Czech contemporary evening Martin Smolka: Rush Hour in Celestial Streets František Chaloupka: Machine gun Slavomír Hořínka: Shirei ahava (Love Songs) Petr Wajsar: 8 Sentences on Fans Michal Nejtek:... your heart stops, you continue writing Conductor: Peter Vrabel SMOLKA: RUSH HOUR IN CELESTIAL STREETS Smolka born in 1959 is a prominent figure of Czech music life. His 2007 composition entitled Rush (Hour in Celestial Streets) is poetical idea of angels sitting in their angel-like cars and sounding their horns, reminding us of Jericho s trumpets. CHALOUPKA: MACHINE GUN František Chaloupka born in 1981 participated in the course of Péter Eötvös and Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt in 2011, which focused on the link between myths and national identity. The Machine Gun was composed at the request of Péter Eötvös. HOŘÍNKA: LOVE SONGS Slavomír Hořínka born in 1980 is one of the most successful composers of his generation. His piece Shirei ahava (Love songs) for trumpet, strings and piano was composed in WAJSAR: 8 SENTENCES ON FANS This melodrama of the Czech composer born in 1978 was inspired by Paul Claudel s philosophical fan poetry. The breakdown of the performers for 8 Sentences on Fan composed for a reader and a small ensemble is more or less identical to that of the orchestra needed to perform Stravinsky s The Soldier s Tale. 22 NEJTEK:... YOUR HEART STOPS, AND YOU CONTINUE WRITING The title chosen by the composer born in 1977 is two lines from Raymond Carver s poem: Your Dog Dies. The composition is a dialogue with the poetry of Raymond Carver and my reflections. ( ) I have no idea what this is, what it was going to be or what it expresses. But I hope this will all be clear soon, the composer said in his notes accompanying the composition.

25 PETER VRABEL 23

26 Some of our favorite and most memorable musical performances at Lincoln Center have been with the remarkable Budapest Festival Orchestra led by their incompa - rable Music Director Iván Fischer. We treasure our artistic partnership with the BFO and it is an honor to be linked to one of the world s greatest orchestras and its extraordinary and imaginative musical leader. Jane Moss (Artistic Director, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts)

27 CONCERTS

28 MOZART SCHUBERT HAYDN TAKÁCS-NAGY PASZTIRCSÁK SEPTEMBER Italian Cultural Institute 27th Friday 7:45 pm Ormándy A 28th Saturday, 7:45pm Ormándy B Haydn Mozart Plus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony in D major (Paris), K. 297 Franz Schubert: German Dances Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concert arias: Bella mia fiamma, addio K. 528; Chi sà, chi sà, qual sia K. 582; Opera arias: Zaide Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben; La Finta Giardiniera (The Pretend Garden-Girl) Crudeli, fermate Joseph Haydn: Symphony 104 in D major (London) Polina Pasztircsák (soprano) conductor: Gábor Takács-Nagy W. A. MOZART: SYMPHONY IN D MAJOR (PARIS) I had to compose a symphony for the opening of Concerts Spirituels. [ ] At the rehearsal I was very worried because I had never heard anything worse than that; you cannot ima - gine how it was rattled off and made fuzzy... writes Mozart in his letter dated 3 July 1778 from Paris to his father. From the letter of the twenty-two year-old Mozart it is clear that the orchestra finally made an effort, and after the successful premiere the author had an ice-cream and told his beads before leaving for home. The piece has entertained generations of music lovers since then as the Paris Symphony. SCHUBERT: GERMAN DANCES Schubert was sixteen years old when he composed his five German dances in 1813 for a string quartet. It is highly likely that the Schubert family played them at home. In the family quartet the brothers of the composer, Ignaz and Ferdinand played the violin, Franz played the viola, whereas the cello part was played by their father. 26 W. A. MOZART: CONCERT ARIAS As was customary at the time, composers inserted their own arias into the compositions of colleagues. The arias Mozart inserted into the pieces of his famous contemporaries to improve them are nowadays known as concert arias: The Chi sŕ, chi sŕ, qual sia and Bella mia fiamma, addio were composed to accompany the operas of Martín y Soler and Jomelli. The other two arias come from the Pretend Garden-Girl and the Sing - spiel entitled Zaide by the young Mozart.