A REVIEW OF BÁLINT KAROSI’S RECITAL OF HUNGARIAN ORGAN MUSIC
ST. CECILIA CHURCH, BOSTON
OCTOBER 17, 2008
The newest rising star on the Boston organ scene, Hungarian Bálint Karosi, played an insightful and inspiring concert at St. Cecilia Church in Boston’s Back Bay on Friday evening, October 17 to a good sized audience from the Guild and parishioners from both St. Cecilia and Bálint’s church, First Lutheran at the corner of Berkley and Marlborough Streets. Just this summer, Bálint was the 1st Prize winner of the XVI International Johan Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig, Germany. He has studied organ, clarinet and improvisation at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, at the Conservatoire Superieure de Genève and at the Oberlin Conservatory, earning two Master’s Degrees, two “Prix de Virtuosité” and both an Artist Diploma and a Master of Music in Historical Performance. Prior to this summer, he also won first prize in several other international organ competitions.
On this Friday in October, Bálint chose a program of all Hungarian organ music from his homeland in observance of the 52nd Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution. He opened with the Liszt Weinen, Klagen, Zorgen, Zagen. He expertly set the stage for a fascinating evening with this piece of great gravity, which ends so triumphantly with the great Lutheran Chorale “Was Gott tut ist wohlgetan.” This was followed by a rather esoteric piece, Evocation à la Chapelle Sixtine. This fantasia in two sections, the second based on Mozart’s Ave Verum, ended in a sort of suspended aura with the audience a bit unsure if that was really the end. The next piece for the evening was an organ transcription by Lionel Rogg of Liszt’s Funérailles for piano. The program notes mention that it was inspired by the death of Chopin in 1849 and there are distinct references to Chopinesque themes from the heroic polonaises. The playing here had an appropriate dramatic flair, but always with the utmost refinement and control.
The Scherzo “Sportive Fauns” was composed by the Hungarian organist and composer, Dezső Antalffy-Zsiross, who actually worked as theatre organist at the Radio City Music Hall and as organist for the New York Philharmonic during the first half of the 20th century. With this fun and playful piece, the organist elicited beautiful colors from the large Smith & Gilbert/Nobscot organ at St. Cecilia’s. The closing piece treated us to a sample of Bálint Karosi’s compositional prowess in addition to his formidable technical abilities. He notes that his Trumpet Toccata was started in 2006 in Europe, but not finished until he was in Boston in 2007. He goes on to say that this piece “is an amalgam of different styles, a French sounding theme mixed up with some Minimal Music elements. Just another virtuosic piece with a lot of pedal work.” This is certainly a modest description from a modest composer/performer, who has actually done an incredible amount for someone not even yet 30 years old! This listener expected to hear a bit more in the way of trumpet solos in this toccata, but found the piece exciting nonetheless. What was most impressive on this evening was the way in which Bálint demonstrated his impeccable taste in registrations. He always made this organ sound beautiful and refined, which is not always the case with the several other times I’ve heard it. The sound never once became harsh or rough sounding, yet still produced plenty of excitement. Perhaps the weather helped that, too. All-in-all I came away with quite a satisfied feeling as I went on my way from this fine performance. Now based on what I heard, I am really looking forward to hearing him play some of those Bach pieces he played to win the prestigious Leipzig competition.
Review by Eric Huenneke.
