Hungarian Rhapsody

Béla Bartók is the best-known Hungarian composer who rediscovered the wealth of his country’s traditional music in the first half of the twentieth century. A series of musicians followed in his footsteps, confirming Hungary’s position in the world of international composition. In this concert, conductor László Marosi offers original works by such renowned composers as Kamilló Lendvay, internationally famous and winner of numerous awards, and Frigyes Hidas. The Barcelona Symphonic Band will also play the brilliant, joyful suite from the ballet The Magic Potion by György Ránki, who studied ethnomusicology and worked at the Ethnographic Museum in Budapest. While Bartók was the standard-bearer of avant-garde music, Franz Liszt was the leading figure among the romantics. His Hungarian Rhapsodies, the second of which is the best known, are a fine mix of traditional Romani and Hungarian melodies.