MENDELSSOHN, DRAGONY – FARKAS RÓBERT Lukács/1

MENDELSSOHN, DRAGONY – RÓBERT FARKAS

Tímea DRAGONY: Splendour 
Felix MENDELSSOHN: Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 40 
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Felix MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 5 in D major (“Reformation”), Op. 107 

Ildikó Rozsonits piano
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Róbert Farkas 

Tímea Dragony (b. 1976) is a highly regarded member of the middle generation of Hungarian composers. Her grandiose, ceremonial and deeply felt composition entitled Splendour (2023) received its world premiere in February 2024 and was performed by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra in Finland. Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor in 1837, at the age of 28. The work was premiered in the same year at the Birmingham Music Festival and has remained one of the most highly regarded pieces in the Romantic concerto repertoire, enjoying repeated success in concert halls ever since. Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 5 in D major, known as the Reformation Symphony, was composed for a solemn and ceremonial occasion seven years earlier. As its subtitle suggests, the work was written to mark the tercentenary of the Augsburg Confession, which signalled the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation. The four-movement symphony incorporates two famous sacred melodies: the first movement quotes the “Dresden Amen” (later gloriously used by Wagner in Parsifal), while the imposing structure of the finale is built upon the chorale melody of Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (“A Mighty Fortress is Our God”). Ildikó Rozsonits (b. 2006) is among the most outstanding members of the latest generation of Hungarian pianists. Róbert Farkas (b. 1982) held important positions in Germany for a decade at the beginning of his career and has been chief conductor of the MÁV Symphony Orchestra since 2021.