MÁV Lukács/3. Zeneakadémia 21-22

The clarinet is one of the orchestra's most virtuosic instruments: it hums in the low register, squeals in the high, and is capable of fast roulades and wide dynamics. Especially when there are two of them, as in Mendelssohn's serene concert piece. The work is performed by two young virtuosi, Rebeka Takács and Benedek Herr, who are students of our orchestra's clarinetist, Pál Sólyomi. The concert will also feature excerpts from Grieg's incidental music to the drama Peer Gynt. Two movements (Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King) are in themselves popular. The conductor's podium at this youth concert will once again be taken by a promising talent: Nátán Sugár, a student pianist of the Department for Special Talents at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

Apollo and Dionysus, idyll and rampant celebration: such pairs of opposites could be used to describe Beethoven's two symphonies, the Symphony No. 6 and Symphony No. 7. The first is one of the most beautiful examples of music depicting nature, in which we hear birdsong, the murmur of a stream, a shepherd's horn. The second, which – after Richard Wagner’s often quoted remark – has been called 'the Apotheosis of the Dance itself', was a resounding success in its day in the imperial city. It contains the popular Allegretto, which was applauded by the audience at its premiere and on occasion has been performed as a stand-alone piece. The fourth evening in Gábor Takács-Nagy's Beethoven series features works by the composer from his "Promethean" period.

Our orchestra's permanent guest conductor, Péter Csaba will take the audience on a journey into the music of German Romanticism. Max Bruch (1838-1920) followed in Mendelssohn's footsteps as a composer and later became an admirer and friend of Brahms. His most frequently performed work is Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, which was premiered by Joseph Joachim. Austrian organist and composer Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) was a deeply religious man and an ardent follower of Wagner's music. His last symphonies belong to final stage of Romanticism, both in terms of the size of the orchestra and the length of the pieces. He described Symphony No. 4, composed in 1874, as 'Romantic'; in fact, it is a depiction of nature, from idyllic landscape to terrifying storm. Another special feature of the concert is that the violin soloist, Anna Csaba, is the daughter of the conductor, who studied at the Conservatory of Music de Genève and later Cologne University of Music and Dance.