J. HAYDN (1732–1809) – J. P. SALOMON (1745–1815): Symphony No. 97 in C major, Hob. I:97
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791): Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478
“Verbunkos” music from the 18th–19th centuries – a selection of works by József BENGRÁF (1745–1791), Antal CSERMÁK (1774–1822), Ignác RUZITSKA (1777–1833) and their contemporaries
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Felix MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY (1809–1847): String Symphony in D major, MWV N 2
Friedrich Wilhelm KALKBRENNER (1785–1849): Piano Sextet in G major, Op. 58

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At its two summer evening concerts, Ensemble Variabile, comprising some of Hungary’s finest period-instrument specialists, brings to life the musical world of Eszterháza’s golden age from a distinctive perspective. At the turning point between Classicism and Romanticism, salon music and domestic music-making were an integral part of daily life not only in aristocratic households but also in bourgeois homes. Amateur musicians often possessed instrumental skills that rivalled those of professionals. This provided fertile ground for the flourishing of chamber music genres and inspired numerous arrangements of large-scale orchestral works. It was, for instance, Johann Peter Salomon who prepared chamber versions of Haydn’s London Symphonies, the very impresario to whom the composer owed his two celebrated journeys to England. With its equal treatment of all instrumental parts, Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor already points towards the Romantic era. The second half of the programme evokes the early stages of that period with the youthful String Symphony composed by the twelve-year-old Mendelssohn, alongside a grand and representative Sextet by the acclaimed piano virtuoso Friedrich Wilhelm Kalkbrenner. The selection is completed and lent historical authenticity by a verbunkos programme, illustrating the distinctive Hungarian instrumental tradition of the period, which exerted as far as Vienna.