The first piece in this concert dedicated to the music of Iván Madarász – RAP-petition – is a true cross-border excursion from the world of classical music to the distant one of rap – distant for both the composer and the young baritone Szilveszter Szélpál, who sings in operas and operettas at the National Theatre of Szeged.

In his work so far, the composer has awarded a distinguished role to the flute, as this is the only instrument for which he has written three concertos. His Episodi concertanti, also known as the Flute Concerto No. 3 is an important milestone on the path that earlier took him to Flautiáda and the Concerto F(L)A. As Kristóf Csengery described the piece, “The principal role goes to the flute, whose part commences soon after the start of the work with extended notes, frullatos, crescendos and rapid gesticulating sections followed by glissandos executed on held notes, indicating that Madarász has capitalised on all of the innovations in writing instrumental music that have been made over the past few decades.” The unique thing about the composition is the fact that, in three clearly differentiated sections, the flute plays duets, as chamber music interludes: first with the oboe, then with the trumpet and finally, with the solo violin. The piece culminates in a slow and poetic part. Enikő Wendler, the soloist of the concerto has been featured on the Virtuosos television talent search programme, then went on to come in second at the Osaka International Music Competition in 2018.

The second half of the concert features the 1985 opera Lot: based on the novella by Karel Čapek, it was commissioned by Hungarian Television. In a departure from the Biblical story, after rescuing his family, Lot returns to Sodom in order to share the fate of the city’s other inhabitants. The main element sustaining the pulse of the music is repetition. Throughout the work, dramatic choruses alternate with solo parts of shocking power. Taking the stage in the title role will be the outstanding lyric baritone Csaba Szegedi.

Iván Madarász

Iván Madarász was born in Budapest in 1949 and studied music composition and piano at the city’s Franz Liszt Academy of Music under Endre Szervánszky and György Ferenczy, respectively. Early in his career, he worked at the Hungarian State Philharmony and taught at the Liszt Academy’s teacher training institute in Pécs. Since 1980, he has taught at the music academy’s main Budapest campus, where he was appointed a full professor in 2002. He is a founding member of the Hungarian Composers’ Union and does important work as the president of the Society Artisjus (Hungarian Bureau for the Protection of Authors’ Rights). An extraordinarily versatile artist, he composes works in the most diverse variety of genres imaginable, ranging from pieces for solo instrumentalists to operas. He has written oratorios, cantatas, concertos, film music, incidental music and live electronic compositions. His works are marked equally by a manner of thinking that reflects traditions and an experimental bent. His compositions frequently relay thoughts that can also be expressed in words. Madarász’s diverse creative work has been recognised with the Erkel and Bartók–Pásztory awards, the Kossuth Prize and the knight’s cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary.