Haydneum Eszterháza Festival – Petra Somlai and Katalin Szutrély

This recital engineers a meeting of the mature First Viennese School and early Romanticism in the works of Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) and Franz Schubert (1797–1828). Both composers had strong ties to Vienna; in his scholastic years, Schubert – as a student of the Royal and Imperial Convict – came across the works of Haydn (as well as Mozart and Beethoven) in orchestral rehearsals. The concert includes the vocal Haydn work Arianna a Naxos solo cantata. Visualization and drama play a significant role in its tone. The Haydn piano work in the programme, the two-movement Sonata in D major (1784), is considered one of the composer’s significant keyboard pieces, with its lavishly worked rhetorical overture Andante and elegant Vivace assai finale. Schubert’s Sonata in A minor (1823) is visionary music with a broadly expanding horizon, definitive contrasts, powerful emotions and drama, and a repeated symphonic soundscape. The five Schubert songs ending the programme illuminate from several angles the versatility of the then developing German Lied, its endeavours to shape mood, its descriptive spirit, intimate tone, personal approach, furthermore, its commitment to lyricism, drama and mysterious suggestion. Katalin Szutrély attended first the Liszt Academy in Budapest before continuing her studies in London as a student of solo singing under Vera Rózsa. She has long been an active participant in Hungarian music life both on the concert podium and opera stage. Petra Somlai completed studies at the Liszt Academy, in England and Amsterdam. Bart van Oort was one of her masters.