Dénes Várjon & Concerto Budapest • 2.1

More than three decades passed between one of the first important orchestral works of Bartók’s first creative period and Piano Concerto No. 3, which he wrote towards the end of his life. Along with the fundamental changes in Bartók’s musical thought, these three decades of course also saw the world transform radically. However, what the concert of Dénes Várjon, András Keller and the Concerto Budapest will show up is not only the broad horizon of the composer’s career but its rigorous coherence as well: in his last works, Bartók, like Beethoven, revisited the problems and questions of his early years in numerous ways.

Few can claim to be able to identify with the poetry of Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3 as naturally as the soloist of this concert, Dénes Várjon. His playing is at once liberated and rich in gestures, emotions and passions, while every detail of the part is meticulously worked out, the rhythm is keen, the image conveyed of the work sharp.