Our Bartók concerts in Berlin 2025

Béla Bartók's works combine Hungarian folk music with modernism. He is modern without being avant-garde, uses all 12 tones but retains a modal character. Tradition and future united in one œuvre. This makes Bartók one of the most important composers of the first half of the 20th century - and his works something you absolutely have to hear! The ROC ensembles make sure of this with their Bartók concerts in Berlin.

Bartók concerts by the ROC in Berlin

Liszt had already devoted himself to Hungarian folk music and tried to incorporate its influences into his compositions. Bartók, strongly influenced by Liszt, continued this attempt and succeeded in preserving the Hungarian character of his music while at the same time lending his work something extraordinarily modern, without appearing deliberate or artificial.

This unusual but very authentic combination of folk music and a music that turns away from the major-minor dichotomy and searches for something new, this musical legacy that Bartók left us, is performed for you by our ROC ensembles at impressive venues in Berlin - in a quality that will stay in your ears for years to come.

Bartók concerts – refined, virtuosic, unforgettable

Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2 ranks among the most significant violin concertos of the 20th century. It shows the composer at the height of his expressive powers, masterfully sustaining a dramatic arc between formal rigor and emotional intensity – all while remaining both accessible and profoundly layered.

His Piano Concerto No. 3 is also still performed frequently today. Bartók composed it just months before his death. Compared to his earlier piano concertos, this third work is notably warmer and more melodic. It is less dissonant, less abrasive, and thus more immediately approachable. That may well be because it was a gift to his wife, Ditta – a piece that was meant to be playable for her, yet still rich in musical substance.

The Concerto for Orchestra, composed in 1943, feels like a triumphant celebration of orchestral sound. It is playful, life-affirming, and emotionally expressive. This is all the more striking when one considers Bartók’s condition at the time of its composition: financially drained, living in exile in the United States, and already suffering the first symptoms of leukemia – the illness that would claim his life two years later. And yet, the Concerto for Orchestra bursts forth with irrepressible vitality, igniting a true firework display of orchestral color.

Enjoy one of our Bartók concerts in Berlin with us!