Everyone in this concert audience can find their joy in Romanticism, love and fairy tales. The first piece of the evening was penned by a 19-year old pianist deeply in love, then come two Romantic suites both rooted in Scandinavian mythology. The compositions we are talking about were written by Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin and Edvard Grieg respectively.  Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor is frequently staged in the concert halls of the world, but Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suites are rarely performed in full length, no matter how popular some of their melodies may be. At this concert, however, both orchestral suites will be featured unabridged.

Although Chopin is primarily known for his emotionally moving piano pieces, he also wrote two compositions where the piano enters into a dialogue with the orchestra. Even though his Piano Concerto in E Minor was first performed, Chopin composed the one in F Minor before that, at the age of 19, in Poland. It was inspired by a young love of his. This can be sensed by all of us, even without a music historical background. Ibsen’s drama Peer Gynt is staged relatively rarely in Hungary, but Grieg’s music written to accompany it turned into a piece with a life of its own in the very year of its premiere, when the composer re-arranged it as two orchestral suites independent of the drama.  Grieg’s melodies have rightfully become popular, as they render the landscape and the mythology of Scandinavia vividly and colourfully. Some of the melodies have become a popular part of our musical heritage, but this time the audience will have the chance to hear the compositions in their full and original, form, in fact in a novel structure, as Suite No. 2 will come first, and Suite No. 1 will close the concert.