It is really quite rare in the modern classical music world for someone to gain equal recognition as a conductor and as a composer, and for this acclaim to spread beyond one's own homeland to all of Europe and even further afield. Hungarians can take all the more pleasure in knowing that one of the few people to achieve this is our countryman Péter Eötvös, whom we will be saluting at this concert held on the occasion of his 75th birthday. His career is also remarkable in that he has created works of significance in numerous genres, and in recent decades in opera, the discipline in which is perhaps most difficult for contemporary composers to gain an audience. Despite this, one of his dramatic works is nearly always being staged somewhere in the world. His erudition and style are simultaneously cohesive and diverse, and this is reflected in a programme that features works with titles in English, Italian and Latin. And since it is not just the composer we are celebrating, but the conductor as well, who would be a better man to have on the podium for the evening than the man himself?

Presented by: Pannon Philharmonic