PROGRAM
Grieg: Holberg Suite
Britten: Simple Symphony
Bartók: Divertimento
FEATURING
GUEST MUSICIAN AND CONCERT MASTER: Béla Bánfalvi
Béla Bánfalvi (1958- ) violinist is a professor at the Faculty of Music of the University of Pécs, the winner of the Liszt Prize and the Bartók-Pásztory Prize, and the owner of the Gold Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary. From 1986 to 2011, he was the artistic director and concertmaster of the Budapest Strings Chamber Orchestra, and from 2011 to the present day, he has been the artistic director and concertmaster of the Hungarian Chamber Orchestra. During these almost four decades, he has performed the entire string orchestra literature multiple times, and he shares his invaluable experience with the string players of the MÁV Symphony Orchestra at out concert. The program presents three of the highest peaks of the string orchestra literature (hence the title of the concert). Grieg speaks the musical language of the 19th century, Britten and Bartók of the 20th. Grieg's work evokes the style and mood of an era long passed, while Britten dresses his own childhood genius in 'adult clothes’; his work is sweet and joyful. Bartók's Divertimento (although the title means 'entertainment') is a heartbreaking testament of the greatest tragedy of the 20th century, the outbreak of the Second World War.
