The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra returns to Miller Auditorium on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with a program that music director Julian Kuerti says "centers around Hungary." In a conversation with Cara Lieurance, Kuerti explains that he built the program to honor a Hungarian benefactor who supports the concert, and because he loves Hungarian composers and Hungarian music.
The evening opens with Beethoven's rarely heard King Stephen Overture. Beethoven wrote it for the opening of a new theater in Pest, as part of a larger stage work about the founding king of Hungary. Kuerti says part of the KSO's mission is to play great works by underrepresented composers, and this time he is turning that around by programming an underrepresented work by an established composer. "If you program a Beethoven overture, there are usually three of them that you'll hear, and this is definitely not one of them," he says.
Pianist Yefim Bronfman joins the orchestra for Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 2. KSO president and CEO Amy Williams tells the story of the orchestra's concert grand, which is nicknamed "the Filly." Bronfman was the first artist to play it after the KSO bought it, and he now returns to play it again after the orchestra's piano technician, D. Marie Jones, has done extensive work on it. Kuerti assisted when Bronfman performed with the Boston Symphony, but this is the first time he conducts him. He calls the concerto a single, rhapsodic arc: "It can be fist pounding, virtuosic, and it can be as light as Chopin."
Brahms's Symphony No. 4 closes the program. "Another title for this program could be Brahms and his friends and enemies," Kuerti laughs. Brahms revered Beethoven but thought little of Liszt, and the story goes that he fell asleep while Liszt played for him. Kuerti describes the Fourth, Brahms's last symphony, as nostalgic and tinged with tragedy but still uplifting. Its finale looks back to older forms and links Brahms to idols like Bach and Beethoven.
A pre-concert talk starts at 6:30 p.m., and a reception follows the concert on the second tier. Tickets are available at kalamazoosymphony.com.
The interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
