A festival atmosphere, extraordinary encounters, learning, wondering and reflection: this is what the Day of Listening promises on 5 November at the Budapest Music Centre. You can follow the concerts live on Papageno.
The Day of Listening traditionally takes place in several venues simultaneously, with the Ligeti Ensemble, a group born under the aegis of András Keller and the Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra.
Thirty works, including seven world premieres and one Hungarian premiere, will be performed in six concerts over one day.
From Richard Strauss to Shostakovich, from legendary contemporary composers to the youngest generation of composers, the programme will feature works by composers from all over the world.
This year, Concerto Budapest is celebrating the Day of Listening in honour of the late violist Zoltán Gál of the Keller Quartet. This year, the festival also pays tribute to two composers: the opening concert will feature a composition by György Ligeti, who was born 100 years ago, entitled Three Pieces for Two Pianos, and in the evening, at the Opus Jazz Club, the festival will present Six Bagatelles from Musica Ricercata, as well as reflections on the event by Gábor Csalog, Ádám Kondor, László Tihanyi and Zoltán Jeney.
The other celebrant is Zoltán Jeney, who passed away in 2019 and would have turned 80 this year. In addition to several of his chamber works, the Szindbád Suite will be performed, composed from his music for the legendary film by Zoltán Huszárik.
The seven premieres of the works of eleven composers living today – Máté Balogh, Gábor Csalog, Gyula Csapó, Alessio Elia, Péter Eötvös, Ádám Kondor, Miklós Perényi, Roland Szentpáli, Dobrinka Tabakova, László Tihanyi and Ákos Zarándy – will once again represent the meeting of different generations of composers, in keeping with the tradition of the event.
This year, Máté Balogh’s Tiefhornfantasie aus den Ostalpen, Roland Szentpáli’s Abraham and Isaac, Per sette archi by Perényi, Alessio Elia’s Celestial Keys, Ádám Kondor’s In nomine, Ákos Zarándy’s The Border Lights of Silence and Gyula Csapó’s challenging one-hour Concerto per Pianoforte ed un ambiente che cambia will be performed for the first time by the artists.
The Hungarian premiere of the Concerto for Viola and Strings by Dobrinka Tabakova, a contemporary Bulgarian composer who critics agree conveys great emotional depth and composes exciting, deeply moving music.
Concerto Budapest dedicates this year’s closing concert to the memory of the victims of war and terror, which is why the programme includes melancholic works that lead the audience towards quiet reflection.
This evening will include Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony, the flute solo Cadenza from Péter Eötvös’ Shadows, Hindemith’s Suite from Trauermusik, Richard Strauss’ Metamorphoses, which has been called the saddest work in music literature, and the 8th movement of Messiaen’s chamber work Quartet for the End of Time (Louange á l Immortalité de Jésus).
The detailed programme for the festival is as follows:
12 pm Concert Hall
György Ligeti: Three Pieces for Two Pianos
- No.1 – Monument
- No.2 – Self-portrait with Reich and Riley
- No.3 – In a gentle flowing movement
- Görög Sisters – Noémi Görög, Enikő Görög – piano
Dobrinka Tabakova: Concerto for Viola and Strings
- Maxim Rysanov – viola, Concerto Budapest
Máté Balogh: Tiefhornfantasie aus den Ostalpen (world premiere)
- Hunor Varga – horn, Concerto Budapest
- Conductor: Gergely Dubóczky
2 pm Concert Hall
Hindemith: Concerto for Trumpet, Bassoon and Strings
- Gábor Devecsai – trumpet, Bálint Mohai – bassoon
- Concerto Budapest
- Conductor: László Tihanyi
Roland Szentpáli: Abraham and Isaac (world premiere)
- Tibor Takács – tuba, János Benyus – horn, Emese Mali – piano, Szilvia Szigeti, Zsuzsanna Berentés – violin, Anna Rovó – viola, Tamás Migróczi – cello
- Conductor: László Tihanyi
Alessio Elia: Celestial Keys (world premiere)
- Márta Murányi, Judit Szathmáry – soprano
- Concerto Budapest
- Conductor: László Tihanyi
Miklós Perényi: Per sette archi (world premiere)
- Zsófia Környei, Zsuzsanna Berentés – violin, Janka Szomor Mekis, László Móré – viola, Ákos Takács, János Aranyos – cello, György Schweigert – double bass
- Concerto Budapest
- Conductor: Gergely Dubóczky
Zoltán Jeney: Szindbád – suite from the music to the Zoltán Huszárik film
- László Kéringer – tenor, András Keller – violin, Orsolya Kaczander – flute
- Concerto Budapest
- Conductor: András Keller
3.30 pm Opus Jazz Club
Péter Eötvös: Para Paloma
- Miranda Liu – violin
Péter Eötvös: Adventures of the Dominant Seventh Chord
- Janka Szomor Mekis – viola
Péter Eötvös: A Call
- Miranda Liu – violin
Péter Eötvös: PSY
- Orsolya Kaczander – flute, Janka Szomor Mekis – viola, Lenka Petrovic – harp
Giovanni da Firenze: Quand’ Amor (arranged by Ákos Zarándy)
- Orsolya Kaczander – flute, Csaba Klenyán – clarinet
Guillaume Dufay: Belle veullies moy retenir (arranged by Ákos Zarándy)
- Orsolya Kaczander – flute, Csaba Klenyán – clarinet
Ákos Zarándy: Border Lights of Silence (world premiere)
- Orsolya Kaczander – flute, Csaba Klenyán – clarinet
5 pm Concert Hall
Gyula Csapó: Concerto per Pianoforte ed un ambiente che cambia (world premiere)
- Zoltán Fejérvári – piano
- Concerto Budapest
- Conductor: Gergely Dubóczky
6.30 pm Opus Jazz Club
Zoltán Jeney: Canone enigmatico
- Csaba Klenyán – clarinet
Gábor Csalog: Létbüfé- Songs of the poems by Lajos Parti Nagy
- László Kéringer – tenor, Gábor Csalog – piano
Zoltán Jeney: Soliloquium No. 5 – for Péter Esterházy
- Csaba Klenyán – clarinet
Ádám Kondor: In nomine (world premiere)
- Orsolya Winkler, Áron Soós – violin, Előd Soós – viola, János Aranyos – cello
László Tihanyi: Three Note Sheets
- Orsolya Winkler – violin, Janka Szomor Mekis – viola, János Aranyos – cello
László Tihanyi: Three Bagatelles for Wind Quintet
- Orsolya Kaczander – flute, Béla Horváth – oboe, Csaba Klenyán – clarinet, Bálint Mohai – bassoon, Péter Lakatos – horn
György Ligeti: Six Bagatelles from Musica Ricercata
- Orsolya Kaczander – flute, Béla Horváth – oboe, Csaba Klenyán – clarinet, Bálint Mohai – bassoon, Péter Lakatos – horn
8 pm Concert Hall
Leonard Bernstein Discusses Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
- Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major Op. 135 – Movement 3 Lento assai, cantante e tranquillo
- András Keller, Zsófia Környei violin, Maxim Rysanov – viola, Ákos Takács – cello
- Ravel: Kaddish
- András Keller – violin, Gábor Csalog – piano
Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony
- Concerto Budapest
- Conductor: András Keller
Péter Eötvös: Cadenza (2008)
- Orsolya Kaczander – flute
Hindemith: Trauermusik
- Maxim Rysanov – viola
- Concerto Budapest
- Conductor: András Keller
R. Strauss: Metamorphosen
- Concerto Budapest
- Conductor: András Keller
Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time – 8. Louange á l Immortalité de Jésus
- András Keller – violin, Gábor Csalog – piano
