The Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra In Ljubljana by Prokofiev, Liszt, Chopin, Bartók, Od (2023/2023), Dirigent Alevtina Ioffe, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Prokofiev, Liszt, Chopin and Bartók: although it may seem surprising to see these four composers grouped together, if we reveal that the programme for this concert by the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra consists of two 19th-century concerto-type works bookended by the music written for two 20th-century dance dramas, it becomes clear that there is nevertheless an organic logic to it. It is always exciting to get an opportunity to meet a new artist: the two we will be meeting at this concert are a prodigiously talented young Russian piano virtuoso and a Russian conductor representing the – thankfully expanding – camp of female members of her profession. Though Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet (1935) is a ballet and Bartók’s one-act dance drama The Miraculous Mandarin (1918-1924) is a pantomime, despite the differences in how the genres are defined, both works deal with all-consuming passion, and in both stories, this passion proves fatal. It will be a thrill to hear excerpts from both Prokofiev’s ballet and the suite created from Bartók’s pantomime on the same evening. Also promising excitement are the two absolutely Romantic works framed by the 20th-century pieces: Liszt’s Totentanz and Chopin’s coupled pair of movements Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante. Born only a year apart, the two composers were united in friendship as well – and yet, these two pieces of music are so different! In contrast to the demonic darkness of Totentanz, the gestures employed in the Andante spianato et Grande polonaise brillante are dominated by a noble bearing and an elegant sense of poetry. Still only 22 years old, Russian soloist Alexander Malofeev was only 13 when he won the gold medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. His compatriot, the Moscow-born maestra Alevtina Ioffe, began her international career in 2018 and has since made triumphant debuts in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Weimar, Paris and Seattle.