Sinfonia Varsovia, Photo courtesy of chopin2010.pl
The concert in Budapest marks the ceremonial end of the Chopin Year in Hungary. Yet it also serves as a prelude to the Liszt Year in 2011. This premier Polish symphony orchestra presents the works of both major Romantic composers
Sinfonia Varsovia performs in Budapest's National Concert Hall under the baton of acclaimed conductor George Tchitchinadze. The solo, however, goes to the young pianist Gábor Farkas, who has already won a great deal of renown in Hungary and around the world in spite of his youth.
The programme includes works from both Romantic composers, who were also known to be friends. The evening features Chopin's Piano Concerto in F minor, which he composed upon his return to Warsaw from Vienna and first performed in 1830 in the National Theatre before an audience of more than 900. Liszt is represented by his Préludes and Mazeppa.
In 2009 Gábor Farkas was named the first prize winner of the 63rd International Liszt Piano Competition and in 2003 he won the Hungarian Radio's Piano Competition. In recent years his career has brought him to concert halls all over the world - Berlin, Baden, Vienna, Stuttgart, Strasburg, Florence, Paris, London, Helsinki, Calgary, Tokyo, Seoul and Peking.
George Tchitchinadze is one of the most talented Georgian artists and has won the hearts of audiences and critics thanks to his warm, sensitive approach to musicians. His career began in 1998 conducting at the International Opera Festival in Tbilisi. Over the past year, he has traveled quite a bit with the Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra - Holland, Warsaw and Bilbao. Sinfonia Varsovia, founded in 1984, has performed all over the world under the direction of the world's most acclaimed conductors, including Krzysztof Penderecki, Hans Graf, Michel Plasson and Bruno Weil.
The concert in Budapest on December 12, 2010 has been organised by the Palace of Arts, which houses the Bartók National Concert Hall and the
Polish Institute in Budapest.
Source:
polinst.huBartók National Concert Hall
Andrássy avenue 22
1061 Budapest
tel: +36 1 331 2550