Liszt Ferenc Music Academy, 25-09-2022

A day with Gábor Hollerung and the BDO

11:00 Comprehensible Music

DIALOGUE WITH THE GODS

Mozart: Jupiter Symphony, KV 551

Mozart entered this symphony in his more or less regularly updated catalogue of works in 1788, under the title Symphony with Final Fugue. The word Jupiter first appears in writing in a concert calendar of 1821. The naming is quite apt, because it is rightly felt by us listeners that Mozart gained admission to Olympus with this work. The first movement of the work is a typical dialogue with the gods: an unambiguous declarative mode juxtaposed with a series of questions coming straight from the heart. This dichotomy is also found, in an unusual way, in the second movement. The third movement is one of the last real minuets in the history of music. Finally, the fourth movement is based on an enigmatic theme that has very many occurrences in music history, but is also known as Mozart’s signature motif. The end of the movement is a special compositional feat, with a short fugue that unfolds not from a single theme, but by the superimposing of all the musical materials contained in the piece.

Presented and conducted by: Gábor Hollerung

14:30 Family Concert

Conducted by: Gábor Hollerung

16:00 Workshop – Solti Hall

(Talking to people from the arts)

18:00

Great Hall

BDO Big Band

Ferenc Csatos, Attila Monoki, Antal Nagy, Csaba Puskás – trumpet

András Sütő, Péter Pálinkás, Olivér Gáspár, Gábor Hegyi – trombone

Bence Szepesi, Marcell Horváth, Keve Ablonczy, Viktor Nagy, Dániel Mester – clarinet, saxophone

Gyula Lázár – double bass

Zsolt Nagy – drums

József Csikós – piano

guests: Lilla Polyák and Bálint Gájer

20:00 Evening concert – Great Hall

EVENING MAGIC

Camille Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre
Richard Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
Paul Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
John Williams: Harry Potter – 2 movements from the suite

Conducted by: Guido Mancusi

The BDO Day ends with a magical evening programme. For the concert, our orchestra’s principal guest conductor Guido Mancusi has selected works that are in some way connected to magic.

 Based on a ballad by Goethe, in Dukas‘s symphonic poem the sorcerer’s little apprentice, in the absence of his master, enchants the broom to do his chores for him as an obedient servant. So far so good, but the spell is so successful that the broom takes on a life of its own, unleashing itself and becoming independent. The apprentice tries in vain to stop it with magic and force, and is finally forced to chop it to pieces with an axe. But then – like in a horror film – the broom pieces come to life one by one and continue their wild rampage. The master returns home just in the nick of time, and with a simple magic spell, puts an end to the mayhem.

Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre is very much like a real black mass. We hear the clock strike midnight, Satan appears, tunes up his violin and then begins a devilish dance that becomes more and more bloodcurdling, more and more captivating, and seems to go on unstoppably until the cock crows. Finally, as the dawn breaks, the devilish dance subsides.

The adventures of Till Eulenspiegel, the mischievous prankster of the bourgeoisie, are brought to life in Strauss’s symphonic poem, which faithfully follows our hero’s journey through his adventures up until his capture, conviction and then the gallows. The music faithfully follows his final jerks on the gallows, but the subsequent playing of the Till motif poses the question: was the hanging really successful?