‘Belgian National Orchestra, Hermus & Vleeshouwers’

Hungarian composer Peter Eötvös, who recently turned 80, has written not only more than ten operas but also numerous concertos. Speaking Drums, a percussion concerto from 2012, takes its title quite literally: the soloist not only plays a variety of percussion instruments but also speaks, growls, roars and screams.

With West Side Story, the renowned composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein succeeded in creating a worldwide hit. A few years later, he compiled nine excerpts from West Side Story, including the well-known Somewhere and Maria, into a new orchestral work: the Symphonic Dances. The Belgian National Orchestra concludes this free Fête de la Musique concert with four other dances from the ballet Estancia by the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera.