The final week of Crescendo Summer Institute started with fresh, new cheer. Newly arrived teachers included Júlia Pászthy (Hungary, voice), Gábor Bretz (Hungary, voice), Dag Anders Eriksen (Norway, violin) and Peter Bannister (Great Britain, composing). The second faculty concert took place in the Synagogue on 27 July 2015, with pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Béla Bartók, Max Bruch, Rodion Chedrin, Henry Eccles, George Enescu, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Francis Poulenc and Franz Schubert performed by Eugene Alcalay (USA, piano), Heinz Chen (Austria, piano), David Daly (Ireland, bass), Kristin Ditlow (USA, piano), István Dominkó (Hungary, piano), Judith Ermert (Germany, cello), Constance Fee (USA, soprano), Mateus Dela Fonte (Brazil, guitar), Philipp Hutter (Switzerland, trumpet), James Kraft (USA, trombone), Swetlana Meermann (Russia, piano), Reto Reichenbach (Switzerland, piano), Ellen Rose (USA, viola) and László Seeman (Hungary, horn).
At 3 p.m. on 28 July 2015, the audience was treated to a concert by the baroque small ensembles. Pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, Arcangelo Corelli, Johann Gottfried Müthel and Georg Philip Telemann were performed by Theodore Bikish (USA, harpsichord), Sylvie Chopard (Switzerland, violin), Ágoston Cser (Hungary, voice), Fanny Gurgel (Hungary, cello), Gustavo Gargiulo (Argentina, baroque trumpet), Dávid Hauck (Hungary, cello and viola da gamba), Milan Jeremić (Serbia, flute), Dóra Király (Hungary, baroque bassoon), Marta Klimczak (Poland, flute), Hirofumi Kobayashi (Japan, viola), Péter Kovács (Hungary, voice), Irene Postma (the Netherlands, harpsichord), Simone Strohmeier (Germany, violin). Small ensembles are taught by Bálint Karosi. Paolo Paroni (Italy) contributed as conductor.
Crescendo Summer Institute places a strong emphasis on composers with anniversaries each year. This time, pieces of Béla Bartók, Jean Sibelius and Arvo Pärt are showcased. Peter Bannister, English composer currently based in Paris, gave a lecture on the life and works of the 80-year-old Arvo Pärt in the Synagogue on 28 July 2015. Bannister highlighted that over the past decades, few contemporary “classical” composers left such a deep mark on society as the highly mysterious Pärt did. Bannister posed questions asking what makes Pärt so attractive and where the power of his openly embraced church music originates. How can he reach such different groups of his audience in a time when Christianity is starting to become outdated? Actually, what is Arvo Pärt’s message today? These were the questions he set out to answer. During the lecture, Arvo Pärt’s string quartet “Summa” was performed by Teresa Rodrigues da Silva (Portugal, violin), Susana Valencia-Tobon (Colombia, violin), Elisa Rendón Peláez (Colombia, viola) and Isabela Saavedra (Colombia, cello).
János Pálúr’s improvisation concert took place for the second time at Crescendo. This special night was held on 18 July in the Synagogue. János Pálúr suggests that the genre of improvisation is almost unknown, even though concert improvisation was in practice even in the 19th century. Not even the best musicians intend to experiment with this kind of performance. Organist János Pálúr’s heavenly talent has compelled him to present the possibilities of improvisation during services and his concerts since early childhood. He has prepared for this year’s Crescendo Summer Institute to play the piano after 30 years’ organ work, and thus shed light on the fact that improvisation is independent of musical instruments and it follows eternal rules. The improvisation concert featured readings of verses from the Bible.
In addition to master classes, workshops with varying topics were held. These included Lectio Divina with Tina Bailey (USA), a course on Bach’s solo suites for cellists by Steuart Pincombe (USA) and an introduction to the harpsichord for pianists by Bálint Karosi (Hungary).
Evening small-group discussions are still held every day, with reflections on the topics of morning Tune-ins:
- How can I get rid of my worries? How could I calm down? – The still heart
- How can I address my hyper-sensitivity? – The sensitive heart
Tokaj, 29 July 2015
Eszter Füzesséryné Dudás
artistic director
Crescendo Summer Institute