Alevtina Ioffe, Conductor

Alexander Malofeev, Piano

Programme:

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev: Suite from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, op. 64 (selection: Alevtina Ioffe)

Franz Liszt: Dance of the Dead, Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, S. 126

Frédéric Chopin: Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 22

Béla Bartók: Ballet Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, Op. 19

Hungarian national classical music can boast of a number of musical geniuses who shaped the world history of music: Franz Liszt, Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, György Ligeti, Georg Solti and Eugene Ormandy are the luminaries of this great musical nation, and the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, which marked its 100th anniversary in 2023, it is the most prestigious and tradition-laden national orchestra.  Music critics highlight it as "an orchestra with tremendous potential that, with focused and sensitive music making of its virtuoso musicians, reaches dazzling heights of the art of orchestral music”! Although it is unfortunately still not common for such top orchestras to be conducted by women, young conductor Alevtina Ioffe is one of the "most intriguing conductors of her generation", and her musical interpretations are in many ways superior to those of her male colleagues. Her operatic interpretations are particularly esteemed, which is evidenced by her engagements and implemented opera projects on the stages of the Bavarian State Opera, the Comic Opera in Berlin, as well as the Operas in Stuttgart and Seattle, although she has also had notable successes conducting renowned world orchestras, such as the Paris Philharmonic or the Staatskapelle Weimar. When speaking about top interpretations as the standard we have set for our offer of concerts in the Saturday at Lisinski series, this concert is undoubtedly another true highlight! We offer music lovers and our subscribers the opportunity to meet the latest "phenomenon of the Russian piano school" (Corriere della Sera) - Alexander Malofeev, a new gem of world pianism! Malofeev is among the few child prodigies in history who can boast about winning one of the world's biggest piano competitions, the Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Musicians in Moscow (first prize and the gold medal!) at the age of only twelve(!), and later on second prize at the Chinese International Piano Competition and further prizes at international piano competitions in Bergamo and Brescia in Italy. Those triumphs opened the doors of all concert series in the world wide for Malofeev. Today, he performs as a soloist with the world's largest orchestras, such as the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Milan Scala Philharmonic, the Russian National Orchestra or the Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia, under the baton of conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Fabio Luisi or Michael Tilson Thomas, and is the first pianist in history who became the Young Yamaha Artist. Iconic pieces by the great Hungarian composers Liszt and Bartók with the music of Chopin and Prokofiev and great interpreters are the promise of an evening filled with musical pleasure!