Friday 30 September 2021, 19:00

IN BEETHOVEN ’S FOOTSTEPS - BOLDIZSÁR CSÍKY AND THE ACCORD
QUARTET

Hungarian Opera in Cluj (Strada Emil Isac 26-28, Cluj Napoca 400023, Romania)

Programme:
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in F major Op. 18 No. 1
Ernő Dohnányi: Rhapsody in F sharp minor Op. 11 No. 2
Franz Liszt: First Mephisto Waltz

INTERVAL

George Enescu: Suite No. 2 Op. 10 Pavane, Bourrée
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio in B major Op. 11

Performed by:
Boldizsár CSÍKY Jnr. – piano
Accord Quartet

This joint concert by artists from from Transylvania and Budapest is framed by two works by Beethoven. The Op. 18 series of six string quartets was written when the composer was about 30, and he later dedicated them to Duke Lobkowitz. The F major quartet which opens the series is dedicated to Beethoven’s old friend Karl Ferdinand Amenda. The quartet has the traditional four movements, and according to Amenda the second, slow movement portrays the crypt scene from Romeo and Juliet. In 1797, at the age of 27, Beethoven composed a trio which, alongside the piano and cello, originally also had a clarinet, but later he wrote an alternative violin part. The set of variations which closes this three-movement work has a Hungarian connection; the theme is the melody Prima ch’io l’impegno from a very popular opera by Joseph Weigl, who was born in 1766 in Kismárton (Eisenstadt), and was the first cellist in the court orchestra of the Esterházy princes.

Between compositions by Beethoven, who kept in close contact with Hungarians, we hear one piece each by Liszt and Dohnányi, both committed performers and great admirers of the German master. Dohnányi composed four rhapsodies in 1903–04 and premiered them in Vienna. The second piece in F sharp minor evokes the mood of Liszt’s and Brahms’ rhapsodies. Liszt’s First Mephisto Waltz, with its recurrent devilish cackling and demonic effect, is one of his best known piano pieces, though it was originally written for orchestra: as the second movement of the symphonic work Two Episodes for Lenau’s Fast, written in 1860, it was entitled Dance in the Village Tavern. The Romanian composer George Enescu (1881–1955), was also greatly influential as a teacher. His violin and piano works are sadly rarely heard in Hungary, so for many the splendid Pavane and Bourrée from Suite No. 2, with their unusual slant on baroque dance movements, will be a new discovery for many listeners.

Performers

Boldizsár Csíky Jnr. was born in 1968 in Reghin (Szászrégen). He studied in the Lyceum of Arts, Tirgu Mures (Marosvásárhely), and then in the Gh. Dima Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca (Kolozsvár). As a college student studying piano, he won the nationwide prize five times, then in 1994 won the ‘Cella Delavrancea’ prize. He has taken part in masterclasses with Lev Naumov and Jenő Jandó. Between 1993 and 1997 he was a student of Walter Krafft’s masterclasses in Munich. In 1998 he attended a summer masterclass in Fontainebleau where his teachers to G. Cassadesus, Ph. Bianconi, and Ph. Entremont. In 2000, after performing in nearly 40 concerts each season there, the Munich Music Seminar appointed him permanent soloist. He has performed with all the symphony orchestras in Romania, and has made radio, television, and CD recordings. He is a member of several national and international juries, and has given many masterclasses at home and abroad. He has performed in over 800 concerts, in all the musical centres in Romania and also in Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Moldova, Russia, Scotland, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the USA. Conductors with whom he has performed include: Erich Bergel, Ion Baciu, Emanoil Elenescu, Emil Simon, Petre Sbârcea, Lajos Bács, Ervin Aczél, Remus Georgescu, Cristian Mandeal, Horia Andreescu, Ilarion Ionescu-Galați, Sabin Păutza, Gheorghe Costin, Edward Tschivzel, Zoltán Kocsis and others. His chamber music partners include: István Ruha, Diana Ligeti, Gurban Carmen, Gaetano d’Espinosa, László Fenyő, Rolf Herbrechtmayer, Andreas Henkel, Valentin Arcu, Dan Grigore, Jenő Jandó, the Transsylvania String Quartet, the Gaudeamus String Quartet, the Moscow Trio, and others. In 2000 he gained a doctoral degree with his thesis on Scriabin’s piano music. He is currently a professor of the University of Music in Cluj-Napoca. Several of his pupils take part and win prizes in national and international competitions, and many of them have now become renowned in the concert hall or as teachers.

The Accord Quartet was formed in 2001, by four students of the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest.
Since then they have won several national and international prizes, including the 1st prize at the International Brahms Music Competition and the Junior Prima Prize. The Accord Quartet is now one of Hungary's most prominent chamber music ensembles.

Since 2012, the members of the Accord Quartet have taught at various universities and giving master classes in Hungary, Japan and the United States.

In addition to their concerts in Hungary, they have performed in almost every country in Europe, including prestigious concert halls such as the Brussels Museum of Fine Arts (BOZAR), the Madrid Museum of Fine Arts and the Hermitage in St Petersburg. In April 2008 they gave a concert in the presence of the Belgian Royal Family and the President of the Hungarian Republic.

Since 2005, the Hungarian State has supported the ensemble with two Italian master violins and an Italian master cello. Since February 2008, a Gasparo da Saló viola copy by Tamás Guminár has been contributing to the ensemble’s fine sound.