Gyula Csapó’s single-movement composition, Concerto for viola and changing environment, was commissioned by Rivka Golani. The composer characterized his composition written in four years before the 2008 premiere as follow: “I give a role to the orchestra not as a unified mass but chamber-like, or even as soloists. It is a viola concerto from the fact that the part of the bass violin runs all the way through the piece like a red thread. I imagined a rich instrumental environment around it in which the viola fills its very characteristic role in so many perspectives. It is a travel companion that accompanies the work, to which other join who then ‘descend’ at certain points. I wanted to demonstrate the duality of diversity and uniformity.”

Csapó revised his viola concerto in 2019, and it is this new version that was performed by Gábor Homoki and Concerto Budapest under the baton of Gergely Dubóczky on January 15, 2022 at the Budapest Music Academy.

Photo by Andrea Felvégi