Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra Presented by Liszt Academy

This concert features works by three composers, all three of whom, like so many others in the 20th century, ended their careers in America. Copland’s parents emigrated from Lithuania; Rachmaninov and Stravinsky arrived from Russia. Three powerful characters, three musical styles. Rachmaninov wrote dyed-in-the-wool Romantic music, even as an émigré. Stravinsky’s ballet Pulcinella, which was commissioned by Sergei Diaghilev, debuted in Paris in 1920 with scenery and costumes designed by Picasso. He rearranged the music of Baroque composer Pergolesi; this is when his Neoclassical creative period started. Aaron Copland wrote his Clarinet Concerto at the request of famous jazz clarinettist Benny Goodman in 1950, mixing jazz elements with what a critic called “bittersweet lyricism”. This kaleidoscope of images is presented by a superb Swedish clarinettist and a conductor who started studies in Ukraine and graduated in Vienna.