Gergely Madaras conducts Kodály's Háry János, Bartók, and Vasks — With Jeroen Baerts and Timothy Ridout

Step into the Salle Philharmonique in Liege for an unforgettable concert of orchestral music, featuring distinguished oboist Jeroen Baerts and violist Timothy Ridout, described by Le Monde as "the best of his generation." Under the skillful baton of Gergely Madaras, the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège performs Kodály's Háry János Suite, a colorful composition that blends folk melodies with classical form. Legendary Hungarian hero Háry János inspired Kodály's eponymous comic opera, and the suite follows his outlandish tales: single-handedly vanquishing Napoleon’s army, taming a seven-headed dragon, defeating a giant…

A contemporary of Kodály, Béla Bartók also took great interest in Hungary’s folk traditions. Although Bartók's incomplete Viola Concerto (finished by his pupil Tibor Serly) is filled with angular and unconventional melodies, the piece still echoes traditional folk tunes through dance-like rhythms and lyrical solo lines. Folk rhythms and lush melodies characterise Pēteris Vasks’s Concerto for English Horn, highlighting the expressive tones of the cor anglais. “My intention is to provide food for the soul and this is what I preach in my works”, says Vasks—the atmospheric and poetic nature of his concerto is one wonderful example.

Photo: Timothy Ridout © Jiyang Chen