JOSEPH HAYDN: Symphony No. 88 in G major, Hob I:88

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART: Piano Concerto in C major, K. 467

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JOSEPH HAYDN: Il ritorno di Tobia – overture, Hob. XXI:1

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART: Symphony No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”), K. 551

Petra Somlai fortepiano

Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: György Vashegyi         

At the concerts scheduled for the Ferencsik season ticket, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra will take the stage in smaller numbers, in keeping with the style of Viennese Classicism. The final night on the programme will add another exciting moment when we hear the Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467, played on the pre-modern fortepiano. Serving as the soloist will be one of Hungary’s finest virtuosos of the instrument, Petra Somlai, who will play alongside conductor György Vashegyi in a programme framed by two late symphonies by Haydn and Mozart.

Haydn completed his Symphony No. 88 in G major in 1787, the year before Mozart wrote the final piece of his symphonic output, the legendary ‘Jupiter’ Symphony No. 41 in C major. The audience will thus get to hear one of each of the two composers’ most mature symphonic works on a single evening, one at the beginning of the concert and the the other at the end. Both display peerless craftsmanship and inventiveness, as well as some unusual ideas: in his finale, Mozart masterfully couples the sonata form with the fugue, while Haydn employs trumpets and kettle drums in the slow movement. In the minuet, he – deliberately and conspicuously – commits a breach of stylistic conventions through the use of consecutive fifths (which would later become typical of rock music, but was still frowned upon in Viennese Classicism). The Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, written in 1785, is a magnificent example of Mozart’s mature Viennese concerto style and is reminiscent of the style of Michael Haydn in its finale. The interesting thing about the overture to Joseph Haydn’s Il ritorno di Tobia is the fact that it introduces the composer’s still rarely heard early oratorio. Born in 1981, Petra Somlai is an evocative and sensitive artist of the fortepiano who has continued her education abroad and boasts a host of concert successes to her name. György Vashegyi is the most influential Hungarian expert on and interpreter of early music, including the Viennese Classical style.

The four concerts of the Ferencsik season ticket invite you to enter the musical Garden of Eden made up of masterpieces of the Viennese Classical style. The music of Mozart, Haydn and Michael Haydn promises ethereal sounds. Each concert will close with a late Mozart symphony: his three final works in the genre and the ‘Prague’ symphony. While each programme features a Haydn symphony as well, we will also hear both overtures and concert arias, with Barnabás Kelemen and Katalin Kokas performing Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major for violin and viola, and Petra Somlai taking on the Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major (K. 467). The fortepiano refers to the pursuit of authenticity – which is also indicated by the fact that the works will be performed by ensembles smaller than a full symphonic orchestra. Two programmes will be conducted by chief music director György Vashegyi, and one by the Swiss musician Stephan MacLeod, who will also sing while conducting two concert arias, as he is an excellent bass. On the third night, we will get the chance to welcome an old friend of the orchestra, the French conductor and oboe virtuoso François Leleux, this time interpreting Haydn’s C-major concerto for the instrument.