Takács-Nagy Gábor and the Concerto Budapest

Mythology, Mediterranean colours, and literature… Based on a theme from German mythology, Schumann’s only opera, Genoveva, was performed on only a few occasions, which brought depression down on the composer not for the first time in his life. Unlike the bleak overture to the opera, which was written much earlier than the libretto, was played throughout Europe at numerous concerts. The exotic Mediterranean and Cuban rhythms made a huge impact on contemporary French composers. The Havanaise and the Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso are two pieces for solo violin accompanied by an orchestra. The first and most authentic interpreters of the pieces were probably the Cuban Rafael Díaz Albertini and the Spanish Pablo de Sarasate. The cheery mood continues in Mahler’s serene and most frequently played Symphony No. 4. His first three symphonies focus on questions of human and divine being, while his fourth depicts life in the heavens from the vantage point of a child. Both its origin and the way to understand the piece guide one to Mahler’s deep affection for the poems of Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn), that is, his affinity for the naive romanticism of an earlier era and a world where there is no concern except the eternal question: “Does he also love me?”