Éva Bodrogi & Mariann Marczi Presented by Liszt Academy

What joins the court musician parading in a rice powder wig and the Modernist artist blowing smoke rings in a Parisian café? Answer: a devotion to Antiquity. Albeit for different reasons, the world of ancient mythology – particularly the tragic fate of heroines – captures the imagination of every age. The concert by Éva Bodrogi and Mariann Marczi perfectly illustrates this. The story of Ariadne, devastated by disappointment in love, is apparent in, among others, the cantata by Joseph Haydn. Henri Duparc reveals a sensual snapshot from the life of the shepherdess Phidylé, while eroticism stands at the core of the Bilitis poems. Debussy is best known for setting poems to music, but the lyricism of Pierre Louÿs looking back to Antiquity inspired others as well: the recital also features performances of arrangements by a Debussy contemporary and the Hungarian-born musical jack-of-all-trades Joseph Kosma. The discourses of Antiquity have a message to convey to this day: composers Máté Balogh and Péter Tornyai reflect on the eternal questions of humanity through their own compositions.