Hungarian Gems Series - Concert #4

“In early July, you will receive some short Hungarian piano pieces from Weimar that I will orchestrate later.”, were Liszt's comments in his letter written in June 1885 to his publisher in Pest on his Hungarian Historical Portraits series, which was to commemorate pivotal figures of Hungarian history and culture (István Széchenyi, József Eötvös, Mihály Vörösmarty, László Teleki, Ferenc Deák, Sándor Petőfi, Mihály Mosonyi). Even though the individual pieces of the cycle are very different, they are connected by their link to Hungary and their internal regularities. The pieces of Hungarian Historical Pieces were not published in Liszt’s lifetime. In fact, they appeared in print as late as 1956. Liszt actually never orchestrated the piano pieces that he alluded to in his letter, so Sándor Veress responded to this niche by scoring the pieces for orchestra. Within the framework of Concerto Budapest's Hungarian Gems Series, the Hungarian Historical Portraits will come to life thanks to the Pannon Philharmonic playing under the baton of Tibor Bogányi. The second half of the concert will feature Kodály’s Háry János Suite written in 1927. It is based on the most characteristic melodies of the eponymous folk opera and is performed with great acclaim worldwide.