kamara.hu/2 A Zeneakadémia saját szervezésű programja

For this their second recital in the kamara.hu festival, artistic directors Izabella Simon and Dénes Várjon have created a programme out of masterpieces by two well-known and two lesser-known composers in line with the subtitle of the event. After all, the violin sonata by Debussy, his last major work, proved to be a turning point in the history of 20th century music: the piece goes far beyond Impressionism and points towards a new type of abstract music. The violin part is taken by dedicated chamber musician Viviane Hagner of Germany, soloist with some of the greatest conductors, such as Barenboim, Mehta and Abbado. Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise (Winter Journey) is also a late work and a turning point in the genre. It is performed here by István Kovács, who is a worthy spiritual heir to László Polgár, the greatest Hungarian Schubert singer. The two-movement cello-piano duo by Josef Suk proved a turning point in the career of the composer, being the piece with which he successfully stepped out from under the intellectual shadow cast by his father-in-law, Dvořák. The similarly Czech-born Erwin Schulhoff wrote the violin-cello duo in 1925 as a perfect summary of his eclectic musical style. Steven Isserlis, of world renown and a regular visitor to Hungary, plays the cello part in both of these works. Steven Isserlis considers three of his most important teachers to be Ferenc Rados, György Kurtág and Sándor Végh; in 1998 Queen Elizabeth appointed Isserlis a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to music.