1-day Mozart Festival of the Concerto Budapest | Artistic Director: András Keller | Host: András Batta
Mozart: The Magic Flute – overture, K. 620
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 9 (“Jeunehomme”), K. 271
Elisabeth Leonskaja piano
Mozart: Concerto No. 10 for Two Pianos in E-flat major, K. 365
Elisabeth Leonskaja, Mihály Berecz piano
Mozart: Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, K. 543
Concerto Budapest
Conductor: András Keller
The overture to The Magic Flute evokes the vibrant atmosphere of the realm of the wise Sarastro. In the last two movements of his Piano Concerto in E-flat major, Mozart strikes an entirely operatic tone. The double concerto inspired by the composer’s older sister Nannerl recalls the joint concert tours they went on as child prodigies. The two soloists are equals in every sense; the music is characterised by brilliant cadenzas, bold dissonances, and a virtuosic finale. The “great” symphony in E-flat was composed in 1788 and opens with an extended and dramatically slow introduction. This is followed by a contrasting first movement, a hymn-like slow movement and an airy minuet, before an inventively rich finale brings the work to a close.
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Year after year since 2018, Concerto Budapest has dedicated a day-long series of concerts to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the eternal favourite of classical music, or rather to our shared and unquenchable passion for Mozart. And so it is on the first Sunday in March 2026.
"This day will stay with me for the rest of my life as a bright, clear and beautiful memory. The magic of Mozart's music still rings in my ears, as if from a distance."
This is what Franz Schubert wrote two hundred years ago about a day spent listening to the music of his great and much admired predecessor, and it is a good chance that we will all remember this Mozartian Sunday in the same way.
