Maskarade, An American in Paris, The Prince and the Pauper, Bolero - what links these works? Perhaps most of all, their internationalism, and the fact that they all promote intercultural dialogue and social mobility. Just like the ideal of Rotary. The Pannon Philharmonic is preparing a programme for the centenary that embodies this thinking, and the works are also almost contemporary with Rotary.

Carl Nielsen was the great Danish composer of the turn of the century, and his work Maskarade is based on a story by Ludvig Holberg, a work written several centuries earlier. Gershwin saw Paris as an American-born child of Russian Jews, Korngold was a native of the Monarchy who spent several years in America because of the 20th century persecution, and Ravel made his mark as a French composer of Spanish descent in Bolero. Anyone who listens to this concert will get a sense of how colourful the world is.