2025 – End-of-Year Concert
For the final concert of the year – our guest appearance in Zagreb – we brought with us a programme that music lovers at home had already received with great enthusiasm in Keszthely and in Budapest, at the Liszt Academy / Zeneakadémia. In that sense, it may be considered a tried-and-tested selection. Yet every new venue presents fresh challenges: with each new soloist, the musical dialogue must be rebuilt, the performance refined anew – and, of course, within the scant hour and a half at our disposal, we must once again find our way into the hearts of the audience.
Our Zagreb soloist, Aljoša Jurinić, proved to be an outstanding artistic partner. His talent, impeccable technical command and clearly defined musical ideas enabled a swift and seamless rapport. After Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major (K. 488), the southern-tempered audience of the Lisinski Hall had every reason to respond with resounding bravos.
The second half of the concert, as elsewhere, was devoted to Schubert’s String Quintet. Despite performing it in a string-orchestra setting, we felt a certain tension: could this chamber music masterpiece retain the intimate inwardness through which it truly speaks, in such a vast space, before an audience of 1,600? Would the acoustics allow those exquisitely delicate pianissimi – barely woven above silence itself – and the veiled, gradual build-ups to emerge? And would the fuller, more powerful sonorities avoid tipping into harshness? After all, it is precisely these qualities that make this extraordinary work so compelling and enthralling.
Yes – we can confidently say that on Saturday evening, all of this came to fruition in this magnificent, internationally renowned hall. Alongside the audience’s rapt attention and the enthusiasm that erupted in a storm of applause, we ourselves felt that what had been heard was worthy both of the approaching Christmas season and of the ceremonial close to our orchestral year.
We carry this experience with us into a brief festive pause, drawing strength and inspiration from it, before setting off – after a few days of rest – for Cartagena.
We thank our dear audience and warmly invite you to follow us on social media during the winter break and in early January, when we will also be sharing news from Colombia.
.jpg)
