(…) At the head of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, Zoltán Kocsis, as he did a few weeks ago, again conducted a ballet: following the earlier Wooden Prince by Bartók, this time he conducted the rarely performed full version of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé. Again, the audience could follow the events of the ballet with projected […]
(…) Kim Kashkashian's musical personality is exceptionally buoyant, powerful and radiant. The approach she represents is an unconditional identification with the music, and it forces her partners to artistic solutions devoid of compromise. This is paired with a unique tension, the secret of which is the simultaneous effect of a desire to express and introversion. […]
It seems that CLEMENS HAGEN always comes to Hungary because of Shostakovich (…) This time, accepting an invitation from the NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA, he again chose Shostakovich. (…) Absolutely impeccable technique, and in addition to the supreme control of the entire gamut of colours and dynamic gradations, steady stamina. As for the musical reading, under […]
On Thursday Zoltán Kocsis celebrated his fiftieth birthday with his now traditional charity concert. Yesterday evening, he was congratulated by his friends and admirers at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Kocsis is certain that the mistaken cultural policy that followed the change of political system will not be repeated and that the National Philharmonic Orchestra, […]
There is no doubt about one thing: the success of the idea. The Music Academy Tosca performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra produced such a powerful, spontaneous and positive reaction from the audience which only the human voice is capable. When Tosca shouts her final words, this being a concert performance, she does not plunge […]
(…) Puccini's Tosca does not belong to the chapter of rarities, since it is one of the most popular and frequently played music dramas in the literature and is also a permanent repertoire piece at the Opera House – but the Music Academy was pleasantly filled for a concert hall performance. Besides the attraction of […]
(…) The National Philharmonic performed Mahler's Fourth Symphony, conducted by a routine Austrian conductor Leopold Hager, whom we can fairly describe as second rate. It happens that an orchestra does not or can only partially realise its conductor's conception; on this occasion however, the reverse was the case: the musicians own initiatives demanded shaping, which […]
Perhaps the National Philharmonic Orchestra cannot give a finer present to the their Music Director, celebrating his fiftieth birthday in a mere two weeks time, than that extended to him at this concert. True, Zoltán Kocsis was not present, and so the real celebration is still to come, but this was precisely the gift: that […]
The concert of the National Philharmonic on April 29 radiated power, strength, discipline and remarkable musicianship from the orchestra, its conductor Zoltán Kocsis and the viola soloist Kim Kashkashian. The amassed forces on the stage of the Academy of Music played ear-splittingly loudly when called upon, but also followed every subtle nuance of the director, […]
The concert by the National Philharmonic Orchestra pitted the music of Bartók and Debussy against each other. As the opening number, Zoltán Kocsis conducted a rarely heard composition: Debussy's symphonic poem Printemps. This is an early work (1887), written while the composer was enduring his Prix de Rome scholarship. Following on from Kocsis's baton, the […]
