After conducting Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir, Riccardo Frizza returns to the podium of the Hungarian orchestra on 22 April for another monumental work, Liszt’s Christus.

“The idea of conducting the Christus oratorio for the first time and of doing so at the Liszt Academy, Budapest, in a perfect fusion of Hungarian musical and national history fills me with pride and honour,” said Maestro Frizza. “I am moved by every single note, every theme, and the monumental compositional structure of this oratorio for solo voices, chorus and orchestra. Everything in it communicates profound inspiration, perfectly set within the spiritual atmosphere in which Liszt was immersed in that pivotal decade of the 1860s. Nonetheless, I quiver with nerves thinking of the concert history of the Christus: Anton Rubinstein on the podium and Bruckner at the organ in the first partial presentation in Vienna in 1871, Wagner in the audience a few years later for the first full performance, conducted by Liszt himself. Christus retraces the story of the life of Jesus from his birth to the passion and resurrection, using biblical texts chosen by Liszt from amongst the sacred Scriptures in Latin: a journey which lets us experience, ringing in heart and ear, in about three hours of musical narrative, Liszt’s imposing expressive force and fervent religious spirit, giving the orchestra the role of driving force, and no longer merely providing a commentary to the choral narrative. Its inspiration is profound: some themes are embraced from the outset and then transformed to create overall coherence: as in the references to Gregorian chant and that ascending fifth which, symbolising the resurrection of Christ in the majestic finale, makes this work the composer’s chosen vehicle to translate his theological messages into music.”

The concert will be live broadcast on Radio Bartok on 22 April at 7pm.

(cover photo © MRME)