The work to be played, however, is not chamber music: Beethoven's Triple Concerto from 1803 – he wrote the piano part for his student and patron Archduke Rudolf – is an example of the Viennese Classical sinfonia concertante: a type of concerto in which several soloists engage in a dialogue with each other and with the orchestra. The cellist, Mischa Maisky, is a legendary artist who has returned to perform in Budapest many times, always to great acclaim. His daughter, Lily Maisky, has also played here before, at a chamber recital. With the addition of her younger brother, the violinist Sascha Maisky, however, the family will be making its Hungarian début as a trio as it performs this cheerful work – which is positively dancelike in the pulse of its closing Rondo alla polacca movement.
In the second half of the programme, Zsolt Hamar will conduct the Hungarian National Philharmonic in a work that is remarkable in several respects. First of all, because it is the first of Mahler's symphonies, and second, because it was right here in Budapest where the composer premièred it in 1889. The sobriquet 'Titan' refers to the piece's format, heroism and richness of feeling and strong emotions. However, along with the grandiosity and passion, the composer also leaves room in his first large-scale symphonic work for folk sounds and (in the notes of the caricature depicting the hunter's funeral) Mahlerian irony.

Presented by: Hungarian National Philharmonic