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classical music, opera, theatre
Organ Duel - Sietze de Vries and Dirk Elsemann
3 April 2019, Wednesday
5:30 pm - 8 pm
one interval
Béla Bartók National Concert Hall
Produced by Müpa Budapest

Competition is one of mankind's oldest instincts, an indispensable feature of natural selection carried with us from the animal world. One particularly intense manifestation of our competitive nature is the duel. So why wouldn't the duel be present also in the world of music?

There have been many notable rivalries in the long history of music. The troubadours of the middle ages competed with one another (consider the Wartburg song contest from Tannhäuser, or the competition between the Meistersinger craftsmen of Nuremberg), and later came the duel between Bach and Marchand ¬(which, according to legend, was ultimately called off after Marchand learned of Bach's skill and disappeared). Duels also occurred between Mozart and Clementi, Liszt and Thalberg, and many others. Müpa Budapest offers audiences a more modern, more playful and friendlier version of the duel through its enormously popular Organ Duel series.
On this occasion, Dutch musician Sietze de Vries (1973) will take the stage with the German Dirk Elsemann (1977) to match their skills in a great variety of trials. (Both of them have previously duelled at Müpa Budapest. Their most recent invitation suggests that they will be worthy 'opponents'.) While the majority of the musical challenges are very difficult, they are always cleverly conceived and generally playful. As listeners follow the competition, they may consider the diversity of the knowledge and skill the modern successors of the great Baroque organist composers still need to possess...
What is most important is that no blood is shed in these duels, and there are no winners nor losers. Well, perhaps there is one winner: the audience, which will enjoy the show from the first minute to the last, and - perhaps without even noticing - learn a lot about a great variety of music.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest

Featuring:

presenter László Fassang, Árpád Tóth
  • 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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