Ferenc Liszt (1811–1886) – Concerto No.2 in A major for piano and orchestra, S.125
Bela Bartok (1881–1945) – Opera “Duke Bluebeard’s Castle” concert performance
Gyorgy Ligeti (1923–2006) – “Romanian Concerto” for orchestra first performance in Minsk
XXXIX Festival of Music “Minsk Spring – 2024”
Concert cycle “CLASSICS FOR EVERYONE”
State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Belarus
Chief conductor – People’s Artist of Belarus
Alexander Anisimov
Soloists – Irina Krikunova (soprano)
Vladimir Baykov (bass-baritone, Moscow)
Vladimir Dulov (piano)
Conductor – Alexander Anisimov
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“Do you know what “musical avant-garde” is? In general, avant-garde is more of a military word. And in this sense it sounds cheerful and positive. In music, unfortunately, the situation is somewhat different.
Are you familiar with the music of the Western avant-garde – Xenakis, Ligeti, Boulez, Stockhausen? I think no. In Minsk they hardly sound.
On May 16, in the program of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra, we offer to listen to a microdose of this direction - the wonderful opus of Gyorgy Ligeti “Romanian Concerto”. Why “Romanian” if Ligeti is Hungarian? It's simple. Transylvania, whose folklore is the melodic basis of this piece, is still a disputed territory and is home to about 50% of Hungarians. An amazing, virtuoso piece with a stunning violin solo. Hear from Yulia Stefanovich. Has the meaning.
Ferenc Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 is an opportunity to remember another brilliant Hungarian romantic, composer, pianist, conductor, legendary man, whose list of fans can be compared with the list of his works. The soloist is Vladimir Dulov, professor of the Belarusian State Academy of Music, head of the special piano department. It is no coincidence that this virtuoso musician is a fan of Liszt.
And the program is crowned by a breathtaking creation of the 20th century – the opera “The Castle of Duke Bluebeard” by a brilliant composer, never appreciated during his lifetime, but after his death elevated to musical Olympus in the company of Mozart, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and other friends of true connoisseurs of the classics , a patriot expelled from his homeland, my idol from my student years – Bela Bartok.
His one-act opera for two performers, “The Castle of Duke Bluebeard,” one of the most popular blockbusters in the world of classical music, has not been performed in Minsk for almost 20 years. Now we are working with a team of passionate professionals, guides, executors of the author’s will: a symphony orchestra, singers Irina Krikunova and Vladimir Baykov. It is impossible to convey the amazing energy of emotions that this music carries. You don’t have to be a connoisseur of the Hungarian language to understand what the composer wanted to share – a frail, sickly man, oppressed by everyday hardships, but not broken by life, proudly fought on his way with everything that did not give freedom to his pen, his creativity, which he left us immortal artifacts of human existence.”
Alexander Anisimov
