François-Xavier Roth in conversation with Stephan Koncz (12 min.)

In a concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker in October 2019, François-Xavier Roth contrasted the first Classical symphonist, Joseph Haydn, with the Modernist Béla Bartók, who was inspired by the folklore of his native country, and the radical sound visionary Edgard Varèse. Roth enjoys an excellent reputation not least because of such unusual combinations in his concert programmes. For this interval feature with Stephan Koncz, the conductor describes how the well-known can benefit from the unknown and the Classical from modern works when juxtaposed in the concert hall. Roth also describes the ways in which the Central Europeans Haydn and Bartók, despite all stylistic differences, are similar, and why Edgard Varèse appears to him like an Anton Bruckner of the 20th century.