The first half of the concert explores the possibilities of the future, so to speak, while the second half looks into the past. In Heinrich Ignaz von Biber's 1673 Battalia, for example, we hear a polyphonic, polytonal parody of drunken soldiers, while in Charles Ives's 1908 piece The Unanswered Question, its musical world beyond tonality of the trumpet solo accompanied by winds strains against the ethereal chords of the strings. Between these two pieces, we will hear Varga's 2018 work Black & White, in which, as with Ives, the relationship between the individual and the community arises just as much as an (unanswered) question as it does in the composition receiving its world première: Bending Space and Time, a "concerto grosso" for three soloists - trumpet, piano and percussion instruments - and string orchestra. Appearing on the horizon afterwards in the second half of the concert will be the musical past. To represent the ”classicists”, we'll have Arvo Pärt's 1977 archaising homage to Benjamin Britten, as well as Edvard Grieg's popular Holberg Suite. Although the latter dates from 1884, it refers heavily to 18th-century music. This half also includes two works by Varga herself: the first consists of excerpts from a score for a film about Lou Andreas-Salomé, a renowned femme fatale of the early 20th century, and the second, 2019's Mosar II, incorporates both a pop tune and music Varga wrote for another soundtrack.

The concert will be preceded from 6.30 pm by a conversation entitled Prologue, where ticket holders will be invited to get to know the performing musician and the works to be performed more closely.
The host of the discussion Gergely Fazekas.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest