Iveta Apkalna hardly needs an introduction to Hungarian audiences: the organist has been a frequent return visitor to Müpa Budapest for more than a decade, where she has performed as a soloist and with a choir. In October 2017, she participated in the Hungarian première of Péter Eötvös's new piece Multiversum, with the composer conducting and László Fassang on Hammond organ, in a concert by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. Another familiar returning visitor is Mariss Jansons: following the likes of Eugen Jochum, Rafael Kubelík, Colin Davis and Lorin Maazel, the conductor became the head of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2003 at the age of 60. Jansons has remained with the orchestra ever since, a sign that the collaboration has been particularly harmonious.
This concert presents works written only by French composers. The Roman Carnival overture by Berlioz is the music of momentum, energy, ecstasy, and the joy of life. Poulenc said of his own Organ Concerto in G minor, 'This is not the amusing Poulenc who wrote the concerto for two pianos, but more like a Poulenc en route to the cloister - a 15th century Poulenc, if you like.' It is true that the single movement Neo-Baroque piece, made up of many short segments, is often sombre and serious. Interestingly, alongside the organ and string instruments, the composer assigned an unusually prominent role to the timpani.
Saint-Saëns's Organ Symphony is a hit often heard in concert halls, yet it is impossible to tire of its energy, its grandiose pathos, its strength and dignity, and the splendour of its sound. Not to mention how the organ's majestic colours melt into the soundscape of the orchestra.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest