Budapest Festival Orchestra

The Concertino Series revives the tradition wherein there was no conductor leading the ensembles, but small orchestras were directed by the concertmaster. Viennese Classicism belongs to this tradition, just like a significant part of the Romantic string orchestra pieces. Therefore, János Pilz selected works from these two periods for this BFO concert. The Haydn brothers, evoked by one piece each, are followed by Schubert, the greatest figure bridging the two periods. The concert concludes with a composition by Tchaikovsky, the uncrowned king of Russian ballet music. The trumpet concerto features Gergely Csikota, a young member of the orchestra, who has successfully performed at several international auditions, while the soloist of the Schubert piece is Savitri Grier, who was hailed in the Birmingham Post for her “deep, eloquent tone, making every line sing”.