Krzysztof Penderecki is one of the most internationally celebrated composers of our day. An avant-garde composer of epochal significance in the 1960s, the creative mind behind Threnody, written in memory of the victims of Hiroshima, and the grandiose St. Luke Passion and Polish Requiem, he has now an extensive oeuvre including eight symphonies, around 20 concertos and a similar number of oratorios. Thanks to a change of style implemented a few decades ago, he has become particularly popular even among that segment declaring itself to be conservative. The artist, who celebrates his 83rd birthday a month after the concert yet remains indefatigable as both active composer and conductor, reveals traces of Bartók in his work Sinfonietta for Strings, which was completed in 1991. Symphony No. 3 was written four years later for the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in a style strongly connected to the Bruckner and Mahler traditions, whereas the Trumpet Concerto is a more recent composition, being premiered by trumpet phenomenon Gábor Boldoczki in October 2015. This Hungarian artist, who turns 40 this year, is considered by many to be among the top players of our day, with his playing being likened to the purity, unaffectedness and flexibility of bel canto: it would be impossible to have too much of the beauty and elevated art that he represents.

Organizer: CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival, Liszt Academy Concert Centre