Concerto Budapest Presented by Liszt Academy

In a nutshell, this concert promises everything French, with an Easter egg surprise. It opens withRoman Carnival, Berlioz’s most popular overture. The music for the work was taken from opera – Berlioz reworked two scenes from his operaBenvenuto Cellini in 1844, six years after its premiere (and failure) – yet the piece remains an unmistakeable concert overture. Initially, Debussy’sThree Nocturnes also met a chilly reception in the early 1900s, although later the trinity of Clouds,Festivals and Sirens, inspired by Whistler paintings, became a classic composition of music Impressionism. Clouds also find their way into the György Ligeti work from 1972–73, and in the same way as Debussy’s third nocturne (Sirens), here, too, a female-only choir is called for. “It's a very slow dance, conforming the melody, harmony and rhythm, this last is played continuously by the snare drum. The only element of difference is the crescendo in the orchestra.” This is how Ravel succinctly described Bolero, which at its 1928 world premiere saw a lady cry out several times, “He has gone mad!”, to which the composer calmly responded, “That lady understands it”.