Debussy’s preludes, which he published in two volumes, are a unique example of large programmatic series, whose epitomes include Bach’s Das Wohltemperierte Klavier and Chopin’s 24 Preludes. Astonishingly rich and colourful, the cycle offers an encyclopaedic view of not only French music at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, but of the art as well of an entire period.

This view is also a worldview, in which literature and the visual arts join in a really special way with the brilliant composer’s exceptionally original musical universe, which continues to inspire to this day.

Rarely is the entire cycle performed at a single concert, and so a rare experience is to be had at this recital by Dávid Báll, the winner of several competitions, among them the International Béla Bartók Piano Competition and the Sándor Végh Competition of Budapest Festival Orchestra. There can be little doubt that the enterprise of the pianist who has always liked special challenges will meet with success.