Tonight’s concert will open with Franz Liszt’s most popular symphonic poem, Les Préludes. This piece is a reworked version of the original overture of the Les quatre éléments (The Four Elements), which is a cycle of four choral pieces by Liszt, to words by Joseph Autran. It was premiered in 1854. The piece is typically Lisztian: powerful, dreamlike and romantic. He wanted to breathe new life into his art, and create more expressive music than anyone else had done before. Consequently, he invented the idea of the symphonic poem. It is followed by a premier, a never before played orchestral version a The Four Elements. This form is composed by Géza Gémesi, based on Liszt and Conradi sketches, and piano reconstructions by Mária Eckhardt. It is performed by the highly acclaimed Saint Ephraim Male Choir (Conductor: Tamás Bubnó) and – instead of a piano – the orchestra.

The programme goes on with Hungarian gems: the latest work by András
Szőllősy. This piece belongs to the most characteristic category of works in his oeuvre, that of memorial compositions. A twelve-tone series and variations on it determine the organization of the notes, and the composer moulds the series into melodies of Bach-like beauty.

The last piece of the evening is Zoltán Kovács’s Symphony no1 which tells the exemplary story of St Agnes. In this piece the composer followed his professors (Vajda, Orbán) and referred to the earlier musical traditions, collective musical memory. Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by the Liszt-prize awarded Zsolt Hamar.