26554_varga_judit_szerzoi_estje_221006_01.JPG
26554_varga_judit_szerzoi_estje_221006_02.JPG
classical music, opera, theatre
An evening with composer Judit Varga
Starring: Gábor Boldoczki
6 October 2022, Thursday
5:30 pm - 8 pm
one interval
Festival Theatre
Produced by Müpa Budapest

Biber

Battalia à 10

Judit Varga

Black & White

Arvo Pärt

Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten

Judit Varga

Lou Andreas-Salomé (excerpts) - Hungarian première

interval

Grieg

Holberg Suite, Op. 40

Judit Varga

Mosar II

Ives

The Unanswered Question

Judit Varga

Bending Space and Time - concerto grosso for trumpet, piano, percussion instruments and strings - world première

Judit Varga, former head of the composition department at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, is Müpa Budapest's composer of the 2022/23 season. Varga's composer's recital features, along with her own works and in a lively dialogue with them, several Baroque, Classical/Romantic and 20th century compositions that are important to her. The first half of the concert covers experimental terrain, including a piece she wrote specifically for this concert, in which trumpeter Gábor Boldoczki, Müpa Budapest's artist of the season, will serve as one of the soloists. The second part of the evening, however, will delve into more popular waters, with respect to both the classical works and Varga's own contributions.

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

Conductor:

Gergely Vajda

Featuring:

trumpet Gábor Boldoczki
piano Judit Varga, László Borbély
percussion instruments Tamás Schlanger
harpsichord Zsombor Tóth-Vajna
Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra (concertmaster: Péter Tfirst)
  • We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.

General contact information
What would you like to ask about?
Newsletter
Sign up for the newsletter of Müpa Budapest and be the first to learn of our events. Sign up
SimplePay horizontal Visa logos