Budapest
Hungarian Classical Music Day
Zoltán Kocsis was born 70 years ago
Ernő Dohnányi: The Veil of Pierrette, op. 18 – excerpts
Tímea Dragony: BIFROST – ‘the Bridge’
***
Béla Bartók: Hungarian Sketches, BB 103
Zoltán Kodály: Budavári Te Deum
Orsolya Rőser soprano
Kornélia Bakos alto
Szabolcs Brickner tenor
Krisztián Cser bass
Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos)
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Oliver von Dohnányi
Zoltán Kocsis, one of the defining figures of Hungarian music life over the past five decades, established a tradition by giving a charity concert each year on his birthday, having invited his friends and fellow musicians to play chamber together. This noble tradition was revived by the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra he headed for nearly 20 years, as well as his alma mater, and 30 May was christened the Hungarian Classical Music Day. In 2022, on the 70th anniversary of the birth of this great musician, the evening is devoted to works by classical Hungarian composers of the 20th century alongside modern-day Hungarian music: the piece by Tímea Dragony inspired by Scandinavian mythology is a world premiere. It won a prize in the symphony orchestral works category at the 2020 Müpa Budapest Music Competition.
Born in 1955, Oliver von Dohnányi is music director of Yekaterinburg’s Ural Opera and Ballet Theatre.
PRESENTED BY
Liszt Academy Concert Centre, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Born 70 years ago, Zoltán Kocsis (1952–2016) is a figure of unparalleled significance in the past half-century of Hungarian music history, as a pianist, conductor, educator, composer, arranger, musicologist, music writer and music politician. He exploded into the Hungarian public consciousness in the ‘70s with such force that his emergence caused an immediate paradigm shift: together with a few other performing artists of his generation, he introduced into the country’s concert halls a new approach with a level of sophistication that had never been seen before. A founding member of the New Music Studio, he also co-founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer. Starting in 1997, he dedicated himself to the cause of the rebirth of the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. As a specialist with unique expertise, until his death, he led the efforts on the Bartók New Series, which releases recordings of fresh conceptualisations of the composer’s works. Fire, tirelessness, devotion, perfectionism – this is what he exuded, and this is what his partners learned from him. It was never easy to meet his standards, since in his passion for creating work of value he always expected the best from everyone, and his demanding exertions and enormous energy made his contribution to Hungarian musical culture an immeasurable one. On the Day of Hungarian Classical Music – held each year on the anniversary of his birth – we will pay tribute to his spirit.