Zugló Philharmonics Budapest A Zeneakadémia saját szervezésű programja

Celebrated as the Paganini of the double bass, Giovanni Bottesini was also a talented composer and conductor. He is closely associated with the world premiere of Aida in Cairo. That the double bass can appear today on the concert stage as a solo instrument is largely due to the innovations Bottesini introduced in the 19th century and his expansion of opportunities regarding instrumental technique. Two of the most accomplished experts of the double bass perform the Capriccio and Concerto by Bottesini: Gergely Járdányi, renowned both as a researcher and interpreter of Bottesini, and his student, solo double bassist with the Vienna Philharmonics, Ödön Rácz. Their names are guarantors of an absolutely authentic performance. Zugló Philharmonics Budapest (with conductor Ádám Medveczky) bookend the two Bottesini works with two pieces that are diametrically opposed in terms of mood. The liveliness and the variety of hilarious and derisive characters of The Secret Marriage (Il matrimonio segreto) recall overtures of Mozart’s comic operas. In contrast, the Symphony in D minor, which concludes the concert is certainly not as ‘playful’. Through its composition César Franck undertook – with the background of an enflamed political situation – no less a task than the unification of French and German symphonic music traditions.