Neeme Järvi, Anna Shelest & Concerto Budapest

One of the doyens of today’s conductors is 82-year-old Neeme Järvi, the two sons of whom, Paavo and Kristjan, also belong to the international top echelon of conductors. He arrives in Hungary with a special 19th century Russian programme. Furthermore, he introduces the Ukrainian pianist Anna Shelest (currently resident in America); they have done much to promote the fine piano concertos of Anton Rubinstein at concerts and on recordings. This time the programme features the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major (1851): the solo part demands a flamboyant and true virtuoso (after all, Rubinstein intended it for himself). Glazunov’s orchestral concert waltz also rank among the more spectacular numbers while the Rimsky-Korsakov composition, Antar, a work titled at different times ‘symphony’ and ‘symphonic suite’, is nearly as rare a visitor in Hungarian concert halls as the piano concertos of Rubinstein. The ‘title role’ of the work is a legendary Arabian warrior and poet, but the gazelle and the fairy queen of Palmyra inspiring the symphony also make an appearance. Framing the programme with the genre of waltz, the closing number is a light-hearted piece from Glinka recalling the mood of the 19th century Viennese balls.