Organ Duel: Bálint Karosi & Sietze de Vries

A propos du spectacle

Appearing in the third “showdown” of a highly successful series of duels, Bálint Karosi needs no introduction to audiences already familiar with the organist and composer's previous appearances at the Palace of Arts. Organist to the First Lutheran Church in Boston, Karosi is the winner of the 2008 Bach Competition in Leipzig and holder of the Junior Prima Prize.

His “opponent" for the evening has a similar wealth of experience and practice in the field of historical organ and improvisational music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Sitze de Vries is the winner of 15 prizes at various international organ competitions, his crowning achievement being the first prize for organ improvisation at Haarlem in 2002.

Witnesses to this evening’s duel will find out what kind of improvisational tasks awaited organists of the 17th and 18th centuries in competition for important posts as church organists. (As an interesting example from music history, Telemann and Bach both applied for a position at the St Thomas Church in Leipzig.)