Little tales from Paris to Norway Presented by Liszt Academy

The season’s perhaps most mysteriously titled matinée is a true storybook, a collection of anecdotes. Composers often paint only a single impression, character, feeling, location, or animal with the help of music, rather than lengthy tales. Musical miniatures have existed since the Baroque period, and so-called character pieces were revived in the 19th century. Dániel Mona juxtaposes these two periods, as, no matter how far Paris and Norway may be from each other, or how many years separate François Couperin’s and Edvard Grieg’s worlds, everyone has seen a butterfly, a clown, or spring. Zsombor Tóth-Vajna will tell these stories on the harpsichord, while Mónika Ruth Vida will play them on the piano, demonstrating how the same stories sounded in the Baroque and Romantic eras. And, of course, the ultimate question: will we figure out, even without knowing the title, what the composer had in mind?