István Várdai Presented by Liszt Academy

Bach’s entire cello suites in a single evening – a true marathon for performers and audience alike. Yet perhaps it is exactly this occasion that allows one to become intensely aware and to marvel at the multiplicity of correlations in this monumental series. The composer himself did not consider the suites as some sort of collection of individual works, but rather a well-planned cycle: we can observe an order spanning six suites in the succession of dance movements, but more importantly, their performance shows an increasing technical challenge from the first to the last. In the final two suites, the composer stretches the boundaries of the instrument to breaking point: the C minor suite is given an unconventional tuning and the D major suite was written for five-string cello. World-famous cellist István Várdai, in the wake of his CD of Bach suites released in 2017, now presents live these evergreen works that always have something new to say. There is no doubt that, in the person of Várdai, we shall discover the most experienced guide on this intellectual and spiritual adventure. Since the performance time of the entire cello suites is over two hours, the concert starts earlier, at 7 pm, and there will be two intermissions.