When speaking of Péter Eötvös, it is difficult to decide which promises to be the greater experience: meeting him as the world-famous composer who always comes up with progressive works, or as the internationally acknowledged great conductor. Luckily, we won’t be forced to choose one or the other at this exceptional recital with Concerto Budapest: the Müpa Budapest audience can enjoy the art of composer and conductor Eötvös at one and the same time.

Composing and conducting are pursued with equal intensity by Péter Eötvös to this day: his works are performed by leading artists of the world and he himself has conducted the top ensembles. This recital features two of his recently completed works: Sirens’ Song written in 2020 was not only influenced by Homer’s Odyssey but the thoughts of Kafka and Joyce, too, in that the composer “tries to make audible” the fatally seductive song of the sirens. Eötvös’s third violin concerto, Alhambra, was inspired by the architectural marvel in Granada, the Andalusian landscape and Isabelle Faust and Pablo Heras-Casado who debuted the work. The composer loves using musical cryptograms, thus he has coded the letters of Alhambra into the music as a principal theme. The solo is taken by the extraordinary violinist Kristóf Baráti, who increasingly includes new works in his programme. The music of Debussy held an important place in the conducting repertoire of Eötvös quite early on. A critic once noted, specifically in relation to The Afternoon of a Faun, that Eötvös’s interpretation sheds light on the details. Accordingly, we are assured of new perspectives on these two popular works by the French master.