The Budapesti Strings featuring András Berecz and Mihály Berecz

Strauss: Sextet from the opera Capriccio, op. 85
F. Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto in A minor, MWV O 2

—

Storyteller: András Berecz
F. Mendelssohn: String Symphony in C major, MWV N 9

Featuring  András Berecz  storyteller and Mihály  Berecz – piano

Richard Strauss, an inimitable master of enigmatic genre designations, sometimes called Capriccio, his last opera, “A Conversation Piece for Music” while at other times he would referr to it as a theatrical fugue. Not even the overture of the work is ordinary: it is string chamber music for six parts, evoking the elegance and charm of the Rococo. Young Mendelssohn plays with the style cues of older times in a similar way. In his compositions made more than a hundred years earlier than Capriccio, such as the String Symphony in C major and the large-scale piano concerto in A minor – or Zero – written at the age of fourteen, the often extravagant, experimental voice of early classics is reflected. The great concerto, which is still a concert hall rarity, will feature pianist Mihály Berecz as a soloist, and what tale his father, András Berecz, will tell, is, of course, a secret.