Jeremy Joseph and Gottlieb Wallisch
Program:
J. S. Bach-Reger: Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, BWV 903
Franck: Prélude, Fugue et Variation, Op. 18
Dupré: Variations sur deux thèmes (for piano and organ), Op. 35
Langlais: Diptyque pour piano et orgue, Op. 129
J. S. Bach-Liszt: Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543
Peeters: Concerto for Organ and Piano, Op. 74
The organ and the piano are both keyboard instruments. Franz Liszt, for example, was immensely skilful at playing both. In most cases, however, it is quite rare for an organist to play the piano, and vice versa, at least at concerts. And more importantly: only once in a blue moon are the two instruments featured together in the same work. Nevertheless, as mathematicians tell us, parallel lines intersect at infinity. In this case, it won't be at infinity where the two lines meet, but at Müpa Budapest, where the audience will get to hear the two instruments both separately and together.
Born in South Africa in 1978, organist Jeremy Joseph now lives in Vienna, a city he is connected to in many ways. He serves as the organist at the Hofburgkapelle and also teaches organ improvisation at the city's University of Music and Performing Arts. Austrian pianist Gottlieb Wallisch was also born in 1978. Quickly recognised as a wunderkind, he went on to study in Vienna, Berlin and Paris. In 2010, he joined the faculty of the Haute école de musique de Genève, and he has worked as a professor at Berlin's Universität der Künste since 2016. Despite the fact that their paths in life are taking them in different directions, the two artists are very fond of playing concerts with each other. And this is exactly what they will do at Müpa Budapest, where they have a pretty incredible programme in store for us. Although Bach originally wrote his Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue for harpsichord, Max Reger later transcribed it for organ. As for the prelude and fugue, conversely, Bach originally composed them for the organ, but Liszt later transcribed the piece for piano. Franck's piece is one for the organ. Those by Marcel Dupré, Jean Langlais and Flor Peeters, on the other hand, employ both instruments. This is a remarkable programme, offering a remarkable sound and a remarkable experience.
