Budapest Festival Orchestra

Though the two composers who both doubled as movie score composers, Korngold and Shostakovich, experienced World War II under completely different circumstances, the historical context was crucial for both works on today’s program. The immigrant Korngold’s “Hollywood Concerto” was his first attempt to return from popular culture after the cataclysm, while Shostakovich’s symphony is an ironic homage to the Soviet system. The solo will be played by one of the world’s most sought-after violinists, Kristóf Baráti, whose performance of Korngold’s work was described by Bachtrack as being “all softness and grace, though again with an intense brightness in the string sound”. The BFO will be led by its returning guest, a master of “powerful bursts of energy, brilliant crescendos and beautiful executed transitions”, the Finnish Jukka-Pekka Saraste.