Liszt Academy - Solti Hall
MOZART: Sonata in E minor, K.304.
MOZART: Sonata for Four Hands in F major, K.497
MOZART: Piano Quartet in E-flat major, K.493
Performed by András Keller violin, Evgeni Koroliov pinao, Ljupka Hadzigeorgieva piano, Máté Szűcs violon, Dóra Kokas cello
“I have very painful and sad news to give you [...]. My dearest mother is very ill [...] She is very weak, and still feverish and delirious. They do give me some hope, but I have not much. I hoped and feared alternately day and night for long, but I am quite reconciled to the will of God, and hope that you and my sister will be the same...” These are the words of Mozart writing from Paris in a letter to his father in Salzburg on 3 July 1778. Sadly, the ‘hope’ mentioned in the text on multiple occasions proved to be in vain: the composer’s mother died the same day. It is customary to hear in the Sonata for Violin and Piano in E minor dating from this period (Mozart’s only instrumental encounter with this key) this tragic loss of the composer. The following two compositions date from the year 1786, rich in works, when according to his Autobiography, Dittersdorf, Mozart’s older colleague who held him in great esteem, conducted the following dialogue with Emperor Joseph II: “Me: There is great art and profundity in Clementi’s playing; we find the same two qualities in Mozart, and in addition, a great deal of taste. Emperor: That is my opinion. I am glad to find I agree with you about Mozart's playing. Now tell me what you think of his compositions! Me: He is, without doubt, an original genius, and I know no other composer in whom new ideas gush forth so abundantly; one might almost say he has too many. He does not give his hearers time to breathe. Scarcely have you been entranced at some beautiful creation, before suddenly another rises up, and so on.”
Contributors to this Mozart Day chamber music concert are particularly illustrious. Máté Szűcs and Dóra Kokas, along with András Keller, holder of the Kossuth Prize, artistic director of Concerto Budapest and here appearing as violinist, take to the stage in the company of Evgeni Koroliov, one of the celebrated and regularly returning guest artists of the orchestra, and Ljupka Hadzigeorgieva, his wife and at the same time the other half of his piano duo.
