PROGRAM
Dvořák: Othello – Overture
Rachmaninoff: Variations on a Theme of Paganini
Janáček: Jealousy – Overture
Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947 version)
FEATURING
Gábor Farkas - piano
The two programs of the concert are also about an emotion as old as humanity itself, an emotion which has caused much sorrow and even tragedy: jealousy. Shakespeare's timeless drama has inspired many musical masterpieces (for example Verdi's opera). In 1890, Dvořák composed a cicle of three concert overtures, titled Nature, Life and Love, the third one also titled Othello, obviously inspired by Shakespeare's drama. Leoš Janáček composed his opera Jenufa in 1894, and entitled the overture "Jealousy". The concert program, full of Slavic music, is nicely enriched by Stravinsky's ballet suite and Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Paganini, which is considered the composer's fourth piano concerto.
Liszt Prize-winner Gábor Farkas is a world-famous performer of the Romantic repertoire, winner of several international piano competitions, and a regular guest at the most prestigious concert halls of Asia, the United States and Europe. He has been a ‚Steinway Artist‘ and a professor at the Tokyo College of Music since 2017. He has been the head of the Keyboard and Harp Department of the Doctoral School of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary for two years. Since 2022, he has been the artistic director of the Far Eastern Classical Music Festival.
