Kristóf Baráti, Maxim Rysanov & Pannon Philharmonics Presented by Liszt Academy

The term ‘concerto’ has several meanings in the history of Western music, although generally it is understood to mean a genre in which a dialogue develops between certain instruments or groups of instruments. That said, the responsive, complementary discourse of parts can be realized in several ways. Concerto grosso was the 17th century’s most popular musical discursive form; an orchestral genre made up of at least four movements in which the parts of the entire musical ensemble alternate with the chamber music ‘weaving mode’ of a soloist group. However, at the beginning of the 18th century a different structure gained in popularity: this was made up of just three movements and usually employed a single soloist who acted as an energy source of modulation processes within the individual movements through virtuoso passages. The sinfonia concertante combined the characteristics of these two concerto types, often employing multiple soloists although in their roles it blended a tendency towards constant dialogue using spectacular technical solutions. In contrast, the double concerto, if the subtle difference could be grasped at all, was rather the heir to a structure fashionable in the first half of the 18th century, the form of which placed a much more direct spotlight on the soloist — using not one but two solo instruments in this highlighted part. The concert programme brings out these small differences between forms through one 18th century and two 20th century works.