Berio / Bartók / Kodály, G. Győriványi Ráth

With the illustrious Hungarian conductor, György Györiványi Ráth, in charge, these delightful concerts feature the music of Luciano Berio, Béla Bartók and Zoltan Kodály in a lively and varied feast. The programme includes some of the most enchanting interpretations of folk music and dance tunes to have become part of the orchestral repertoire as this staging at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona demonstrates.
Each of these spellbinding concerts opens with Berio's Folk Songs for voice and orchestra, first composed by the Italian maestro in 1964 but which he subsequently orchestrated in 1973. Berio wrote the music for his wife, a mezzo-soprano singer named Cathy Berberian. This song cycle features music written in the American folk song tradition, as well as Berio's interpretations of traditional Italian songs, in which he merely sets the lyrics to new music. As such, the song cycle isn't a true representation of folk music but a sophisticated take on it that uses traditional music as a point of departure rather than a destination.
Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, BB 114, Sz. 106 was written in 1936 and received its premiere in Basel, Switzerland on 21 January 1937. Often regarded as nothing less than one of the greatest new pieces of music of the last century, the piece has a refined construction that boasts expressive melodic ideas and rhythms throughout. A four-movement piece, the first section is played andante tranquillo with an apparently ever-changing time signature. Intensely scored allegro and adagio movements follow before an impressive finale which begins with timpani and pizzicato strings giving way to a lively folk-dance rhythm.
Kodály's Dances of Galánta concludes the programme. The Hungarian composer produced this piece of music in 1933 to mark the 80th anniversary of the Budapest Philharmonic Society. It was his interpretation of folk music he'd been exposed to during his time living in Galánta, now part of modern-day Slovakia. Dances of Galánta is particularly noted for its use of clarinet, an instrument that is close to the sound of a tárogató, a popular Hungarian folk instrument.
Ráth has enjoyed a varied career as a conductor which really took off after he won the Toscanini Conducting Competition in 1986. Well-known for his work with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra and the Budapest Opera House, Ráth has conducted extensively outside of Hungary including work with the Berlin Radio Orchestra, the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic and Orchestra RTL Luxembourg, among others, plus previous engagements with the Orchestra Arena di Verona.
This exciting and lively folk music-inspired programme will offer insights into various musical traditions with an esteemed conductor and orchestra.