Liszt and Prima Prize-winning organist László Fassang has chosen an unusual programme of music for the first evening of this season ticket series spotlighting his diversity as an artist. Although the works may not be the most familiar in the repertoire, all have distinctive features that certainly make them likely to attract those thirsty for new experiences. French composer Francis Poulenc completed his Concerto for an unusual combination of instruments in 1938: the work is one of the most frequently performed organ concertos not from the Baroque period. The American Samuel Barber wrote his festive piece for the inauguration of the grandiose new organ of the Philadelphia Academy of Music, with the work’s première conducted by Eugene Ormandy in 1960. Richard Strauss likewise wrote his Festive Prelude for a new instrument in 1913, in this case the five-manual organ of the Vienna Konzerthaus, then the largest organ in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The closing piece of the concert is a genuine curiosity: Franz Liszt’s expansive fantasy and fugue on a chorale from Meyerbeer’s opera Le prophète was rearranged for organ and orchestra by Marcel Dupré, one of the 20th century’s most important organist-composers. The work only resurfaced in this form in 2007 after the rediscovery of the manuscript, long thought to have been lost.
The programme showcases a fascinating set of powerful, sublime and radiant pieces. It is also worth mentioning that the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra will be conducted on this occasion by Gergely Madaras, a young conductor who is making a name for himself in a growing number of countries worldwide.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest