Celebrating Victor Aitay

April 13, 2021, 8:00 pm

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Eva and Victor Aitay in Wilmette in August 1963 (Victor Aitay collection, Rosenthal Archives of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association)

A member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 50 seasons, Victor Aitay (1921-2012) attended the Franz Liszt Royal Academy in his native Hungary, where Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner were on faculty. This program features several of the first-char violin solos Aitay recorded during his tenure as the Orchestra’s concertmaster, including Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade, as well as the Benedictus from Beethoven’s Missa solemnis. Kodály’s Hary Janos Suite and a colorful variety of works by Liszt, Bartók and Weiner complete the program.

Playlist

Sheherazade, by Nikola Rimsky-Korsakov
Chicago Symphony Orchesta; Seiji Ozawa, conductor; Victor Aitay, violin

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in D Minor, by Franz Liszt
Chicago Symphony Orchesta; Sir Georg Solti, conductor

Prince Csongor and the Goblins, by Leó Weiner
Chicago Symphony Orchesta; Sir Georg Solti, conductor

Hungarian Sketches, by Béla Bartók
Chicago Symphony Orchesta; Fritz Reiner, conductor

Háry János Suite, by Zoltán Kodály
Chicago Symphony Orchesta; Neeme Järvi, conductor

Benedictus from Missa solemnis in D Major, Op. 123, by Ludwig van Beethoven
Chicago Symphony Orchesta; Sir Georg Solti, conductor; Victor Aitay, violin; Lucia Popp, soprano; Yvonne Minton, mezzo-soprano; Mallory Walker, tenor; Gwynne Howell, bass; Chicago Symphony Chorus; Margaret Hillis, director