"It is my wish that nothing be named after me, but if it must, it should be the 'György Ligeti Dead End'." The artist once expressed this sentiment at the end of an interview after having confessed a few sentences earlier, "I am deeply dissatisfied with myself (…) I am constantly searching, but I can't find my own language and I always do something new." It is thanks to this constant search for a way forward that the composer's œuvre is full of exciting twists and turns. This centenary concert brings to life four stages in Ligeti's journey of discovery: works that have developed lives of their own, three of them orchestral and the fourth an oratorio. Melodien (1971), Clocks and Clouds (1972/73), San Francisco Polyphony (1973/74) and Requiem (1963-65) all represent the part of the composer's output from his years in the West, giving us the opportunity to encounter phenomena such as micropolyphony, the sound cloud, and the "meccanico" character. Sarah Defrise and Szilvia Vörös, the singers joining the Hungarian Radio Choir and Concerto Budapest, are outstanding representatives of the younger generation, while the conductor for the evening will be Gergely Vajda, music director of the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, principle conductor of the Savaria Symphonic Orchestra, and also the musical director of the UMZE contemporary music ensemble.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest