The concert is influenced by the romantic tradition of pianists and composers passionately improvising, alongside revising notorious operas and songs. The pieces played will range from Bach to Liszt, and expand through the improvisations of György Cziffra and János Balázs, showcasing the 200-year tradition of the performer becoming the companion of the creative artist. This is how János Balázs would like to call attention to the life of this art form in classical music, as well as pay tribute to the memory of György Cziffra.

The Chopin Series in the Royal Łazienki Park is Warsaw’s longest established cultural event. The Chopin monument destroyed in the storms of history war recast and restored in the enormous, picturesque park in 1958. A year later, Chopin’s music followed. Since then, the event series has grown into a prestigious tradition: mainly, the most prominent members perform in the series taking place from May to September every year. Thus, it is a special honour and pride for us that among the few international stars, also our very own Kossuth Award-winning János Balázs will take to the stage. His recital will feature masterpieces written at the peak of Chopin’s career. The piano ballad is the Polish composer’s invention and the most unique and poetic genre of the Romantic piano repertoire and the purest form of the Romantic aesthetic ethos. The impromptus are the imprints of the composer’s compelling improvisation skills, while the waltzes reflect his singularly sensitive spirit. The monumental concluding piece is perhaps one of the most interesting Chopin works, originally accompanied by a symphony orchestra. The concert, a joint endeavour of Cziffra100 and the Polish organisers, is simultaneously a homage paid to the virtuoso pianist, György Cziffra, who would himself keenly and regularly play Chopin’s masterpieces.

Outdoors event. Admission is free of charge.

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Balázs János, conductor: Eötvös Péter

Ensemble Contrechamps, Orchestre de la Haute École de Musique de Geneve 

This concert evokes the memory of one of the most exceptional musicians of the 20th century, György Cziffra. The event will encompass two Swiss premieres performed under the baton of Peter Eötvös, who composed his Cziffra Psodia for the 100th birthday of the legendary piano virtuoso. The work premiered at the gala concert held in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Müpa, Budapest, on 5 November 2021, Cziffra’s actual birthday. The composer dedicated his work to the deserving heir of Cziffa’s legacy, the artistic director of the Cziffra Festival and the Cziffra Memorial Year, pianist János Balázs. The work was played in Budapest and later in Paris with Mikko Franck conducting the French Radio Orchestra and soloists János Balázs (piano) and Miklós Lukács (cimbalom). The Swiss premiere of the composition will take place in Geneva upon the invitation of the Festival Archipel, where the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande will play under Eötvös’ baton. They will also perform another piece by the master, Fermata, for the first time in Switzerland as well as Senk’s Change. In the second part of the concert, the legendary composer and conductor will be conducting Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra.

The concert is influenced by the romantic tradition of pianists and composers passionately improvising, alongside revising notorious operas and songs. The pieces played will range from Bach to Liszt, and expand through the improvisations of György Cziffra and János Balázs, showcasing the 200-year tradition of the performer becoming the companion of the creative artist. This is how János Balázs would like to call attention to the life of this art form in classical music, as well as pay tribute to the memory of György Cziffra.

Balázs János (piano), North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Teplice, conductor: Charles Olivieri-Munroe

It was three years ago when Erika Miklósa and János Balázs first took to the stage together to find a “common tone” that joined their musical realms – the repertoires of the opera and the piano. The two worlds and the two performers found a path to each other with ease, as the opera, as well as the piano repertoires, reached a climax in the Romantic Period and a new revival in the past century. Both musicians wish that today’s audience should experience the freedom and joy of music that Mozart, Verdi, Liszt or György Cziffra’s audiences could feel. The coloratura soprano singing on the stages of the most prestigious opera houses with the great concert pianist on her side has compiled her programme of arias, popular songs, and virtuoso transcriptions without having to consider any limitations of genres.