CELEBRATION OF SPRING - Joly Braga Santos / Villa-Lobos / Pergolesi – Klára Kolonits, Andrea Meláth, José Eduardo Gomes és and the MAV Symphony Orchestra F/2

Birds sing, then startle at the approaching storm, then the sounds of divertissement can be heard in the village: Vivaldi's Violin Concerto, Spring, contains some of the most beloved melodies in music history, this time played by solo violinist Jin Xi in our matinee concert. First published in French almost a century ago, in 1931, The story of Babar, the little elephant is a tale of an orphaned elephant who, thrown into modern Paris, learns the rules of civilised behaviour and returns to his own to become their king. Francis Poulenc's composition for orchestra, like Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, is narrated by a narrator. The orchestra is conducted by the rising conducting talent Dárius Teremi.

From virtuoso pianist, Franz Liszt became an accomplished composer, and his much-loved symphonic poem Les Préludes is a testament to his mature voice. Nevertheless, his Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major is also a masterpiece, this time featuring Canadian solo pianist Kevin Chen. The soloist won first prize at the 2021 Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest and was previously the winner of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv. The cantatas by two esteemed composers, János Vajda and György Orbán, were commissioned by the Honvéd Ensemble on the centenary of the Great War as a warning against all wars of all times, as a joint "artistic ritual" for humanity and peace.