Zoltán Kocsis and UMZE

14 February 2012, 7.30 pm - 10.00 pm
Festival Theatre

Stockhausen: Kreuzspiel
Varèse: Density 21.5
Janáček: Capriccio for piano (left hand) and wind instruments
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Stravinsky: In memoriam Dylan Thomas
Dohnányi: Passacaglia for solo flute
Stockhausen: Kontra-punkte

Featuring: László Kéringer - vocal, Zoltán Fejérvári - piano, Gergely Ittzés - flute
Conductor: Zoltán Kocsis

Formed to perform and popularize contemporary and 20th century music, the UMZE Chamber Ensemble has placed a selection of extraordinary works side by side for this concert, most of which were written in the early 1950s and are connected to each other in terms of composition and technique. The two halves of the evening each open with an emblematic work by Karlheinz Stockhausen, one of the most influential composers of the latter half of the 20th century. Of the two works for flute that serve as an intermezzo in each half, the composition by the Frenchman Edgard Varèse is the better known: referring in its title to the density of platinum, it was composed at the request of the flautist Georges Barrère for the début of his platinum flute. The “series of baroque variations” which Ernő Dohnányi wrote in 1959 was the last of his works to be assigned an opus number, its unusual feature being that the Hungarian pianist and composer, generally regarded as a conservative, applied the twelve-tone technique in its composition. In the context of his experiments in many styles, the canons Stravinsky wrote in memory of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas would similarly not have been created without Schoenberg’s dodecaphony. Some of Stravinsky’s works are unfortunately still too rarely played in Hungary – and the same is true of the works of Janáček. The Czech composer’s unusually arranged composition is in reality a miniature piano concerto, commissioned by an outstanding pianist who had lost the use of his right hand in the First World War.

Presented by: UMZE, Palace of Arts

Prices: 1500, 2300, 3000 Ft