Founded in 1984, the Basel Chamber Orchestra continues the traditions of the similarly named ensemble led by Paul Sacher, the legendary conductor and impresario who commissioned works from Béla Bartók, among others. The orchestra’s repertoire lends equal weight to every style and genre from the Baroque to modern contemporary music, using period or modern instruments as the work demands, placing it among only a handful of ensembles to adopt this approach. Noted for its flexibility and artistic freedom, this conductorless orchestra has worked with a host of renowned soloists, among them Cecilia Bartoli, Sol Gabetta, Andreas Scholl, Heinz Holliger, Fazıl Say, Emmanuel Pahud, Renaud Capuçon and Viktoria Mullova.
The ensemble’s guest for this Budapest concert is herself an extraordinary personality. Not only is Hélène Grimaud passionately committed to the music of Bach and Mozart, but also to the protection of wolves, as a founder and director of the Wolf Conservation Center in New York State, which welcomes some 35,000 visitors annually. This evening, she will play a pair of piano concertos in D minor, with the orchestra providing a counterpoint in the form of two masterpieces by 20th century composers which both recall the music of Bach and Mozart.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest