On February 20, Concerto Budapest celebrates György Kurtág’s 100th birthday with a festive concert at Müpa (Palace of Arts, Budapest), led by former Kurtág pupil András Keller. The program sweeps through the master’s career, spotlighting early and late landmarks that chart his razor‑sharp evolution and unsparing lyricism.
From Bartók’s Shadow to Kurtág’s Voice
The evening opens with a 1955 viola concerto movement shaped in a Bartókian vein, a fierce, compact statement that hints at the composer’s emerging voice. From there, the focus jumps to the late 1980s with the double concerto for cello and piano, a pivotal work of his mature period in which Kurtág’s fragmentary intensity turns incandescent, every gesture pared to the bone yet searingly direct.
Dialogues and a World Premiere
Keller and the orchestra also unveil a new orchestral transcription of a Ludwig van Beethoven string quartet movement, setting up a sharp dialogue across centuries. The night culminates in the world premiere of the one‑act opera Die Stechardin, adding a bold theatrical spark to an already bracing homage.
