Opening Concert of the Pablo Casals International Cello Competition A Zeneakadémia saját szervezésű programja

The next in the series of Budapest International Music Competitions founded in 1933 is the Pablo Casals International Cello Competition, named after the famous Catalonian cellist. The opening concert of the competition chaired by Casals’ widow, Maria Casals Istomin, and Csaba Onczay, professor at the Liszt Academy, starts with Dances of Galanta by Kodály (who was at one time an active cellist, too), followed by Edward Elgar’s last important work, the Cello Concerto (1919), performed by Miklós Perényi. The concerto had to wait until the 1960s before gaining popularity thanks to a recording by Jacqueline du Pré. Doubtless we’ll witness a performance of this extraordinary virtuosic composition in the spirit of Casals: after winning second prize at the Pablo Casals Competition in 1963 Perényi received invitations to attend several Casals master classes. The closing piece is Bartók’s Concerto by the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zoltán Kocsis. Few other conductors or orchestras are capable of performing this iconic work with greater intensity and authenticity.