Dávid Báll & András Kemenes Presented by Liszt Academy

The title of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto in C major suggests a dialogue between two keyboard instruments and an orchestra, yet the original version – performed here by two distinguished professors of the Liszt Academy – was written solely for two harpsichords, without orchestral accompaniment. This earlier form likely dates back to Bach’s Köthen period and was only later expanded with strings, taking on the familiar shape of a concerto. A useful reference point for interpreting the title can be found in Bach’s Clavier-Übung II, which also includes a work labeled “Concerto”: the Italian Concerto. The stylistic and structural parallels between the two pieces make this concert’s opening work a fascinating counterpart to its later namesake. Johannes Brahms’s monumental, ten-movement composition opens with a chorale once thought – by the composer and a friend – to be based on a theme by Joseph Haydn, hence its title. Across the nine subsequent variations, audiences can experience the full spectrum of Brahms’s compositional mastery, from character variations to intricate counterpoint. After the intermission, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s only work written for two pianos will be performed, a gracefully elegant piece composed in 1781 for Josepha Auernhammer and the composer himself. The program concludes with Sergei Rachmaninov’s Suite No. 2 for two pianos, a four-movement work composed after a difficult creative crisis. Following the triumphant success of his Piano Concerto No. 2, Rachmaninov completed the suite just two weeks after the premiere and once again captivated audiences.