Programme Vaughan Williams, Ralph (1872-1958)Fantasia on a Theme by
Thomas Tallis Britten, Benjamin (1913-1976)Piano Concerto, Op.13
Elgar, Sir Edward (1857-1934)Enigma Variations on an Original Theme
for Orchestra, Op.36 Performers Matan PoratPiano Domonkos
HéjaConductor Concerto Budapest This concert promises a pure,
inimitable English selection: sandwiched between two notable and very
popular orchestral numbers is a concerto sadly rarely performed in
Hungary and most worthy of discovery. With its theme and archaic
tonality, the most famous work (1910) by the ‘English Kodály’,
Vaughan Williams, is a tribute to his 16th century fellow composer.
Britten’s only piano concerto took final shape in 1945: some critics
from those days judged the work in four movements as being lightweight
music for radio, although musicians of the calibre of Sviatoslav
Richter (who played it in Pest) argued in favour of the composition.
For this recital, the soloist is the Berlin-resident Israeli pianist
Matan Porat: he debuted in front of a domestic audience with Concerto
Budapest in 2015, since when he has returned as both chamber musician
and composer. “I have sketched a set of Variations on an original
theme: the Variations have amused me because I’ve labelled ’em
with the nicknames of my particular friends,” Elgar wrote in 1898
about the work in progress; as a true gentleman, he only ever
‘named’ the variations – that together brought him world fame
– using monograms, pseudonyms or even three asterisks.
music
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08/06/2020 Last update