JOHANNES BRAHMS: Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80
JOHANNES BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77
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BÉLA BARTÓK: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Sz. 106, BB 114

Kristóf Baráti violin
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: György Vashegyi

In 1880, Brahms received an honorary doctorate from the University of Breslau. To show his gratitude, he composed the Academic Festival Overture, a treatment of student songs. The Violin Concerto (1878) too has personal elements in its background: the composer wrote this work for his closest friend, Joseph Joachim, whose Hungarianness is alluded to by the rhythmic theme of the finale. This concert kicking off the season for the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra closes with one of Bartók’s finest works: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1936). Taking the podium will be chief music director and recent Kossuth Prize-winner György Vashegyi, with the world-famous virtuoso Kristóf Baráti serving as the soloist.

After Brahms received an honorary doctorate from the University of Breslau in 1880, he learned that it was insufficient simply to thank the faculty for the gesture: he was also expected to write a piece of music for the occasion. So he decided to have a bit of fun with the professors. He composed an overture, ending with the lofty Gaudemus igitur, but only after a series of mischievous student songs emerge in the music. His Violin Concerto, on the other hand, remains sublime throughout, inspired by one of the most exalted feelings of them all: friendship. In this case, for the soloist József (Joseph) Joachim whose ethnic origins are alluded to by the Hungarian theme of the finale. The first part of the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra’s season-opening concert looks at Europe through the works of Brahms, but after the interval, turns its attention to one of the greatest Hungarians: Bartók. His Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta simultaneously pays homage to the Classical tradition with its symphony-like form and to the Baroque with its contrapuntal structure. Taking the podium will be chief music director and recent Kossuth Prize-winner György Vashegyi, with the internationally celebrated Kristóf Baráti serving as the soloist for the concerto.