Conductor: Michael Schonwandt R. Strauss: Death and Transfiguration – symphonic poem, op. 24 Goldmark: Violin Concerto in A minor, op. 28 Elgar: Enigma Variations, op. 36 Even with the knowledge of the decadent sense for life prevalent at the end of the 19th century, it is surprising that in 1889 a successful twenty five year old Richard Strauss wrote a symphonic poem about death and mortality, the hymnic motif of transfiguration of which was to be heard again some sixty years later in h...is Four Last Songs. On the last day of his life, he said: “Death is just how I wrote it in Death and Transfiguration”. One of the most frequently performed compositions of Károly Goldmark (1830–1915) is his Violin Concerto from 1874. There is no trace of the efforts to renew the musical language of Romanticism in this piece by the composer who was a great admirer of Wagner and Liszt, in fact its lyrical tone is related to the music of Mendelssohn and Spohr. Today’s soloist is József Lendvay who was born in 1974. He works regularly with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and has collaborated in the recordings for Philips of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody and Brahms’s Hungarian Dances. Edward Elgar was forty two when he experienced his first true breakthrough with the performance of his Enigma Variations – “officially”: Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma). The premiere was conducted by Hungarian Hans Richter in London in 1899. The enigma is the identity of the original theme, which Elgar hinted is a counterpoint or a clever variant on something extremely well known. We are still all guessing quite what this tune is! Each variation is also a portrait of one of his friends, but the score shows simply their monograms. Michael Schonwandt is currently the music director of the Royal Danish Opera. Previously he was the principal guest conductor of the Brussels Opera and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. In April 2003, he enjoyed a great success when he first conducted the Festival Orchestra in Budapest.
Parking information
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.
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