CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS
Budapest Festival Orchestra

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Saturday, January 24th, 2009 at 8:00 PM

Budapest Festival Orchestra
Iván Fischer, Music Director and Conductor
József Lendvai Sr., Violin
József Lendvay Jr., Violin
Oszkár Ökrös, Cimbalom

TRADITIONAL Gypsy Folk Music
LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No. 3 in D Major
BRAHMS Hungarian Dance No. 15 in B-flat Major
BRAHMS Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G Minor
SARASATE Zigeunerweisen
BRAHMS Hungarian Dance No. 11 in D Minor
BRAHMS Symphony No. 1

Encores:
BRAHMS Hungarian Dance No. 7 in A Major
TRADITIONAL Hungarian Folk Music

This concert is made possible by generous gifts from Mr. George Soros and Mr. Charles Simonyi in support of the Extremely Hungary festival 2009.

Celebrating Hungary is sponsored by Erste Group.

Program Notes:

FRANZ LISZT
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 3 in D Major

Franz Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies were originally a set of 19 based on , composed during 1846–1853, and later in 1882 and 1885. Liszt additionally arranged versions for orchestra, piano duet, and piano trio. The first 15 were published in the year 1853, with the last four being added in 1882 and 1885.
In these rhapsodies, Liszt incorporated many themes that he had heard in his native Hungary and believed to be folk music, though many were in fact tunes written by members of the Hungarian upper-middle class, often played by (Gypsy) bands. The large scale structure of each was influenced by the , a Hungarian dance in several parts, each with a different . Within this structure, Liszt preserved the two main structural elements of typical Gypsy improvisation—the (“slow”) and the (“fast”). At the same time, Liszt incorporated a number of effects unique to the sound of Gypsy bands.
The third rhapsody of the series is dedicated to Comte Leó Festetics.


JOHANNES BRAHMS
Hungarian Dances No. 15, B-flat Major, Allegretto grazioso; No. 1, G Minor, Allegro molto; No. 11 in D Minor, Poco andante

Although Brahms’s Hungarian Dances were originally published as piano duets in four books, appearing in 1869 and 1880, their origin goes back to the beginnings of the composer’s career. Brahms was active as a pianist and arranger for small ensembles during his teenage years in Hamburg. He gave his first solo concert as a pianist in September 1848 at age 15. During the summer of that year, the Austrian and Russian governments had suppressed the revolution in Hungary, resulting in many Hungarian refugees passing through the port of Hamburg on their way to the US. They brought with them their music, which was frequently played both for profit as well as to show solidarity with the rebels. Brahms thus came to know the Gypsy music of Central Europe.
A major interpreter of the Gypsy style was the Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi, who studied music in Vienna. In 1850 Reményi performed in Hamburg and greatly impressed Brahms. Three years later he prevailed upon Brahms to accompany him on a concert tour. This tour also proved to be highly influential: Brahms met Joseph Joachim at Göttingen, who became a close friend, and met Liszt at Weimar.
Five years later while in Göttingen, Brahms entertained his hosts with some wild, Gypsy-style piano pieces, probably the first formal examples of the Hungarian Dances. Clara Schumann was to perform several of these pieces during the coming decade. What seems to have been the first complete performance of the first 10 Hungarian Dances, composed for piano duet, took place in 1868 with Brahms and Clara as the pianists.
The Dances proved to be immensely popular and commercially successful. In 1872 Brahms issued a version for solo piano, and in 1873 he orchestrated three of them—numbers one, three, and ten. His publisher, Simrock, was delighted with this success and persuaded Brahms to compose a further set, books three and four. These were published in 1880. The majority of the tunes in the set derive from the csárdás found in contemporary collections of Hungarian music. Brahms learned many of these through his earlier encounter with Reményi, but he infused the melodies with even greater character, recreating them in an expanded form. Abrupt transitions of tempo, material, and mood conjure up the commonly held image of Gypsy violinists.

Pablo Martin Melitón de Sarasate
Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20, C Minor

Zigeunerweisen was written in 1878 and given its premiere that same year in Leipzig. Among Sarasate’s works, it falls almost in the middle (as the 20th opus out of 54) and is arguably his most popular and famous piece. The title is derived from Zigeuner, a German word meaning “gypsy,” and weisen, meaning “tune.” The work is equally popular in performance with solo violin and orchestra or with violin and piano. While the artistic substance is not overwhelming, Zigeunerweisen is, without a doubt, unforgettable. Ranging from sounds that imitate the zither to sounds of birds chirping, musical growls and sobs, and violin fireworks that hold listeners on the edge of their seats, this piece is a showstopper.

This piece is loosely based on the csárdás, a Hungarian rustic folk dance, most popular between the 1850s and the 1880s. The csárdás is always in double-meter, with frequent syncopated rhythms characterized by alternating slow and fast sections. The slow sections represent dignity and pride, and the fast sections are the Gypsy dances. The piece has been counter-adopted by Gypsy musicians and is currently performed at various venues in addition to concert halls. These appearances hold true to the original use of the csárdás, and can be heard at weddings, parties, and at rustic inns, as well as their modern counterparts, the European cabarets.


JOHANNES BRAHMS
Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68

"Never has the music world awaited a composer’s first symphony with such eager anticipation.” This is how the famous music critic Eduard Hanslick began his account of the premiere of Brahms's Symphony No.1. By its premiere in 1876, nearly 23 years had passed since Schumann so euphorically proclaimed the talent of the young Brahms. The more than two decades of tortured work that separated the first and final drafts of this work were unparalleled in the career of the composer, famous for fretful, painstaking doubt in his own compositional ability. The monumental four-movement work is an amalgam of classical structure and a highly developed romantic vision. Hans von Bülow christened it the "tenth,” indicating his belief that Brahms had inherited the mantle of genius in symphonic composition from Beethoven, whose powers were held to be out of reach. It was also Hans who first spoke of "the three Bs”: Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.

Budapest Festival Orchestra
Iván Fischer, Music Director and Conductor
The Budapest Festival Orchestra was formed in 1983 by Iván Fischer and Zoltán Kocsis. Through intensive rehearsals and demanding the highest standards from musicians, the aim was to make the Orchestra’s annual concerts significant events in Hungary’s musical scene, and to give Budapest a new symphony orchestra of international standing.

Between 1992 and 2000, extending its work to a full season, the ensemble operated under the aegis of the Budapest Municipality and the new BFO Foundation, formed by 15 Hungarian and multinational corporations and banks. Since the 2000–2001 season, the Orchestra has been operated by the BFO Foundation, which the Budapest City Council regularly supports under a contract renewable every five years. In 2003 the Ministry of Education and Culture declared the Orchestra a national institution supported by the state.

The Festival Orchestra is now not only a vital part of Budapest (usually performing to capacity audiences), but it is also a frequent and appreciated guest at the world’s most important musical centers. Numerous outstanding figures from the international music scene have also performed with the Orchestra: Sir Georg Solti (who was the Orchestra’s honorary guest conductor until his death), Yehudi Menuhin, Kurt Sanderling, Eliahu Inbal, Charles Dutoit, Gidon Kremer, Sándor Végh, András Schiff, Heinz Holliger, Agnes Baltsa, Ida Haendel, Martha Argerich, Hildegard Behrens, Yuri Bashmet, Rudolf Barshai, Kiri te Kanawa, Radu Lupu, Thomas Zehetmair, Vadim Repin, Helen Donath, Richard Goode, and others.

After recording on Hungaroton, Quintana, Teldec, Decca, Ponty, and Berlin Classics, the Orchestra signed an exclusive recording contract with Philips Classics in 1996. Its recording of Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin received the Gramophone Award, while The Diapason and Le Monde de la Musique both chose it as their recording of the year, respectively. Recordings of Liszt’s Faust Symphony and Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra were chosen among the year’s five best orchestral discs by Gramophone. Its recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 was also nominated for a Grammy Award.

Among the BFO’s most acclaimed projects have been its opera productions: The Magic Flute (Budapest), Cosi fan tutte (Athens), Idomeneo (Budapest and Athens), Orfeo ed Euridice (Budapest and Brussesl), and Un Turco in Italia (Paris). In addition, the Orchestra performed a cycle of works marking the 50th anniversary of Bartók's death, the complete Mahler symphonies, performances honoring the centenary of Brahms’s death, a Bartók-Stravinsky cycle, and a Liszt-Wagner cycle. In 2005 the Orchestra launched its annual Budapest Mahlerfest.

The BFO places great emphasis on the performance of new music, performing many world and Hungarian premieres in addition to commissioning new works of its own.

To promote the artistic development of its members, the BFO has developed regular chamber music and chamber orchestra series alongside its major orchestral concerts, including the Sunday afternoon chamber music events, "Cocoa Concerts” for young children, the Haydn-Mozart series, as well as the annual open-air summer concerts that have become favorites of the Budapest music audience.

József Lendvai Sr., Violin
As first violinist and Vice-President of the Budapest Gypsy Symphony Orchestra, József “Csócsi” Lendvai has won many awards and prizes, including the Gold Grade Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary. This artist makes enormous efforts for the Gypsy musical culture. József “Csócsi” Lendvai is a well-known artist in Hungary and abroad, having made numerous appearances with the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

József Lendvay Jr., Violin
Born in 1974, Paganini and Liszt prize–winning violinist József Lendvay studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music as a student of Miklós Szenthelyi, and frequented the master classes of Yehudi Menuhin, Ida Haendel, Igor Oistrach, Jaap van Zweeden, and Sándor Végh. This young, outstanding artist has performed with huge success in several countries outside Hungary, including Switzerland, Japan, the Nethlerlands, and the US. He has been invited to play with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Netherland Radio Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Orchestra, and the Suisse Romande. He has also been a soloist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra on several occasions and is featured on their recordings of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies and Brahms’s Hungarian Dances. József Lendvay plays a Giovanni Testore violin made in 1777.

Oszkár Ökrös, Cimbalom
Born into a musician family in 1957, Oszkár Ökrös started to play the cimbalom under the guidance of his grandfather. He was eight when won the soloist category of the Folk Art Competition on Hungarian Television. Two years later, with special permission of the minister, Oszkár entered the conservatory. Following graduation he played with the top folk art groups, travelling and performing around the world. In 1974 Oszkár was invited to perform as a soloist during the birthday celebration of Queen Elizabeth II. His first disc, Magician of the Cymbal, was released in 1990; his second, Paganini of the Cymbal was released in 2002. With the Budapest Gypsy Symphony Orchestra, Oszkár performed in the World Expo in Lisbon, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Palais de Congres in Paris. He regularly plays with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, both as concert soloist and on recording. In 2001 he was given the Gold Grade Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary.