Bartók's South America, South America's Bartók Presented by Liszt Academy

It is no coincidence that Alberto Ginastera is often referred to as the “Argentine Bartók”. Though the two masters never met, Ginastera discovered the same raw, elemental power in the dances of the gauchos on the Argentine pampas that Bartók found in Hungarian and Romanian peasant music. Their spiritual kinship is rooted in the courage with which they both fused folk traditions with the most advanced European avant-garde techniques.

On this evening, folk sources and classical compositions appear on stage as an organic whole, presented as contemporary interpretations of one another. Alongside the classical soprano and piano, folk vocals and traditional wind instruments take the stage as equal partners. We witness South American rhythms and motifs from the Carpathian Basin maturing into a unified, modern chamber music.

The concert is a dialogue spanning from Budapest to Buenos Aires, proving that inspiration drawn from surrounding musical traditions continues to provide powerful, relevant artistic answers today.