Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Martin Helmchen, Sir Neville Marriner

Sobre o Evento

There can scarcely be any more joyful occasion for the concert‐going music lover than the opportunity, after a hiatus of many years, to visit the Palace of Arts to hear the unique sound of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the renowned British chamber orchestra composed almost exclusively of soloists in their own right.

The ensemble, which takes its name from the church in London’s Trafalgar Square, will be put through its paces on this occasion by the same conductor who founded it more than half a century ago, and who remains its life president. Playing together with the familiarity of a chamber orchestra, the performance will feature two big hits of the concert repertoire alongside a work that has somewhat fallen by the wayside. Mendelssohn wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor during his honeymoon at the age of 27 years – the happiest time of his life. Composed specifically for England, this pleasant work was premièred at the Birmingham Festival in 1837. In Budapest, the work will be performed by an artist who will only turn 30 in 2012, but who has already performed not only with the London‐based orchestra, but also with other noted orchestras such as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics. The Ruslan and Lyudmila overture that begins the concert has such an overwhelming vitality that is is deservedly among the most frequently played orchestral works in the concert repertoire. Dvořák’s New World Symphony is also a genuine masterpiece, containing an almost endless series of beautiful melodies cascading one after another over the four movements.

The result is a kaleidoscope of musical colour that nevertheless stands as a coherent whole, while hinting at a well concealed story within.