Székesfehérvár – This year’s Mesterbérlet (Pass of Masters) series ended on Monday evening with the wildly successful concert of Katalin Pitti opera singer, and Gábor András Virágh, organist.
31st May, 2011. Author: Balázs Szabó
…probably it wouldn’t hurt anyone to say that the true surprise and sensation of the evening was the performance of Gábor András Virágh. (Since I am fortunate enough to have heard him play and also his pieces, this was less of a surprise for me.) His rich repertoire included Buxtehude’s Prelude in G minor, Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in A minor, Liszt’s Hosannah and the Finale of Vierne’s First organ symphony.
Those who are a little familiar with organ literature will be completely astonished when reading the next sentence: the artist played all these extremely complex compositions by heart (!) without a single mistake or musical error, with highly colourful registration, and with a high level of focus embracing all details, while the style of the performance was elegantly cool and unbelievably self-confident.
Being the insatiable person that I am, I lamented enough that András Gábor Virágh could only present his skills as an organist, since he also finds his composing activities more important than his performing activities. And indeed, the world of music is familiar with him as an immaculately prepared composer who feels at home in a number of genres and has an excitingly unique style.
I think I speak for many others when I suggest that he should be invited again – we would all enrich our lives, if we get to know as many sides of this outstandingly talented musician and composer as possible.
English translation: translating.hu