The first concert in the Hungarian National Philharmonic's Kocsis subscription series, on 8 October at Müpa, showcases three faces of Slavic Romanticism.
The Czech Smetana's Bartered Bride Overture is a rich source of energy, good humour and folk characters; in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto in B flat minor, virtuosity meets great emotion; and Pictures at an Exhibition is also a meeting point, as in it the Russian Mussorgsky joins hands with the French Ravel – the result being one of the most brilliantly orchestrated scores in the history of music. Magyar Valentin is the audience's great new favourite, and it will be exciting to hear Carlo Montanaro, who often conducts masterpieces by Italian masters, as the interpreter of a different kind of repertoire this time.
Bedřich Smetana, Dvořák's predecessor and the great pioneer of Czech national music, wrote his three-act comic opera The Bartered Bride between 1863 and 1866; its overture often appears in its own right as a stand-alone concert piece on the programmes of the world's great orchestras. Its chief virtues are its sweeping momentum, lively rhythms and folk character. The Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra's Kocsis series is conducted by Carlo Montanaro, one of Budapest's favourites and an authentic interpreter of passionate music.
The second piece on the programme, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto in B flat minor, offers a wonderful opportunity for Magyar Valentin, one of the greatest Hungarian piano discoveries of recent years, to show the virtuosity and emotional richness of his playing. Finally, the crowd-pleaser that fills the second half, Mussorgsky's piano cycle Pictures at an Exhibition in Ravel's brilliant orchestration, is a joyous showpiece for every orchestra and conductor, offering scope both for unfolding a broad palette of colours and for varied characterisation. If ever there was a work for which the description “musical picture book” is no exaggeration, this is it!
Bedřich SMETANA: The Bartered Bride – overture
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto in B flat minor, op. 23
Modest MUSSORGSKY – Maurice RAVEL: Pictures at an Exhibition
Carlo Montanaro conductor
Magyar Valentin piano
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra