​Two Lifetimes of Music

​​ This program celebrates two composers whose combined creative lives span some 140 years. The scope of work that Klaas de Vries (80) and György Kurtág (99) have produced over these decades is awe-inspiring: diverse, pioneering, profound, beautiful, and groundbreaking. In three parts, leading specialists pay tribute to their respective oeuvres. 

Central to the program is Kurtág's connection to the Netherlands. From 1997 to 1999, he and his wife Márta lived in Amsterdam, where he inspired and influenced numerous musicians, including his colleague Klaas de Vries. The program includes a short documentary about his Dutch years, featuring footage from 1998 and reflections from Dutch musicians who worked with him. The evening also marks the release of an ECM CD documenting the impact of Kurtág's Dutch period. 

Two World Premieres 
The program features two world premieres: Klaas de Vries' completed Hölderlin Lieder and György Kurtág's Hommage à Madeleine Margot for piano and cello – a tribute to the woman whose société Gavigniès made his stay in the Netherlands possible. 

A Groundbreaking Monologue 
The first part starts with Kurtág's homages to Dutch musicians and artists and culminates in his devastating monologue What is the word for voice and piano. Based on one of Samuel Beckett's final texts, written in 1988 after a fall left him partially paralyzed and barely able to speak, Kurtág dedicated the work to Ildikó Monyók, who had to relearn speech after a serious car accident. After her interpretation, Kurtág considered no other singer capable of performing the work until he heard a recording of Gerrie de Vries. This moving piece about the struggle with language and expression has since become one of her signature pieces. 

The second part pairs early compositions by De Vries and Kurtág (from 1961 and 1943, written at ages 17 and 16 respectively) with their two premiere pieces. The program concludes with De Vries' Piano Concerto, composed in 1998 and revised for piano and sextet in 2003.