Romantic evening with Khatia Buniatishvili

Mozart Overture to The Magic Flute, K.620
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, op.23
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Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet – fantasia-overture
Tchaikovsky Francesca da Rimini, op.32

Featuring Khatia Buniatishvili piano
Conductor András Keller 

The overture to Mozart’s Magic Flute comes before the arrival on stage of the magic pianist Khatia Buniatishvili performing the solo part in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto in B minor. The Georgian musician has been a regular guest with Concerto Budapest since 2010, and about whom the equally distinguished Martha Argerich said that she was “impressed by Kathia’s exceptional pianistic gift, natural musicality, imagination and … brilliant virtuosity.” The hugely popular Tchaikovsky concerto is followed in the second half by more works from Tchaikovsky: two medieval Italian tales and two tragic love affairs from world literature. The third, final composer version of the Romeo and Juliet overture fantasy adapted from the work by Shakespeare dates from 1880; although not a resounding success at the beginning, it was not long before the audience was sharing the enthusiasm (displayed right from the start) of the Russian Fives and Saint-Saëns. The other tragic love story, the romance and tragedy of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, which became famous from Dante’s Divine Comedy, inspired Tchaikovsky to write his ‘symphonic fantasy’ in 1870 (notwithstanding the fact that the Russian composer lived his own life as one single tragic suffering).