“The ideal of music performance was reborn, the ideal which was carried from the world of Plato’s concepts down to our human-populated earth by Pablo Casals… This sound comes from nowhere and as it evolves it encompasses the entire universe...” These words extolling the art of Miklós Perényi are from the great critic György Kroó. Since then the play of this modest genius of the cello has also evoked similar rapture in all those whose expressiveness perhaps does not attain the same lofty heights as Króo. This programme celebrates the 70th birthday of the awe-inspiring musician; the majority of the programme is given over to three compositions by Antonín Dvořák complemented with a joyous celebration of the life of Miklós Perényi. The Silent Woods was originally the fifth part of a piano cycle written for four hands, although later the composer reconfigured it for cello and orchestra (as well as cello and piano). However, Dvořák’s Rondo in G minor gave the principal role to the cello right from the start, albeit initially with piano accompaniment. The closing composition of the first half of the concert, Robert Schumann’s late Cello Concerto in A minor, is an intimate piece from the Miklós Perényi repertoire: not obviously rewarding, under his fingers this concerto always proves to be astoundingly rich. With a performance of Dvořák’s New World Symphony after the break, András Keller and his orchestra provide the audience with yet another gift at this concert of celebration.