Kurtág 90 - Concerto Budapest A Zeneakadémia saját szervezésű programja

When Antal Szerb briefly characterized the authors of his anthology of the finest poetry in world literature, he pithily described Johann Wolfgang Goethe thus: ‘He was Goethe’. In such a concert review as this one can say little more about György Kurtág than: ‘He is Kurtág’. Of course, one can come up with generalities about the composer who celebrates his 90th birthday on this very day—as did the international jury of the Spain-based Fundación BBVA which recognizes the most important contemporary composers. After Steve Reich and Pierre Boulez, they awarded the foundation prize to Kurtág in 2015: “The innovative dimension and significance of his music is not tied to the material used, but its source is the composer’s innermost world, the authenticity of his language, and the freedom with which he crosses borders between spontaneity and reflection, between formalization and expression.” However, such words say nothing of the marvel with which Kurtág is capable of constructing a complete musical universe even out of just a few notes, or concentrating into just a few minutes intricately complex system of music-history correlations. It is just as hard to explain the elementary impact anyone coming across the music of Kurtág experiences on listening to any of his works. In this birthday concert of the András Keller-directed Concerto Budapest his alma mater pays respects to one of the most significant composers of the second half of the 20th century.