New season kicks off at the Liszt Academy

During the autumn season, the Liszt Academy will host many world stars and the festival commemorating the 210th birth anniversary of Franz Liszt between October 9 and 22 will be an outstanding event organized by our institution that boasts a history of nearly 150 years, stressed Dr Andrea Vigh, president of the Liszt Academy, during the presentation of the programmes on Wednesday.

Photo: Liszt Academy/István Fazekas

The institution has put together its autumn 2021 season programme adhering to the usual high quality standards and a similar structure as in earlier seasons, offering several series. Programme Director András Csonka pointed out that all thematic series will continue, but the discount system implemented by the Concert Centre of the Liszt Academy will not include season tickets. Tickets purchased for three different concerts in one series will carry a 10-percent discount, and tickets for four or more concerts in a given series will carry a 15-percent discount from the total purchase price. Those registered for the Liszt Academy Extra service will receive an additional 5-percent discount.

Performers at the concerts organized by the Liszt Academy will include, among others:

• Kristóf Baráti; István Várdai and Zoltán Fejérvári; Péter Frankl and the Kelemen Quartet; the Manchester Camerata under the baton of Gábor Takács-Nagy and with the participation of Dénes Várjon; Kristóf Baráti and Maxim Rysanov with the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra; the Swedish Chamber Orchestra with clarinettist Martin Fröst; the Auer Trio as well as the Kodály String Quartet;
  
  
• Pianist Ilona Prunyi; violonist Vilmos Oláh; violist Péter Bársony; cellists Dóra Kokas, Ditta Rohmann and László Fenyő; pianist István Lajkó; trumpet player Gábor Boldoczki and the Capella Gabetta; solo performances by pianists Alexander Melnyikov, Gábor Farkas, Mihály Berecz and the winner of the piano round of the Bartók World Competition, Ádám Szokolay as well organist Iveta Apkalna;
  
  
• The Liszt Academy Symphony Orchestra, awarded with the title National Youth Orchestra, conducted by Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, Salamon Kamp and Ádám Medveczky; the Amadinda Percussion Project; pianist Kirill Gerstein at a performance commomorating Zoltán Kocsis; pianist Gábor Farkas and violinist Vilmos Szabadi will share the stage with the excellent young French cellist Camille Thomas;
  
  
• The Pázsint ensemble, Sára Tímár, Júlia Karosi and fellow musicians, as well as the Binder Trio.

The thematic programme organized by pianists and married couple Izabella Simon and Dénes Várjon, the kamara.hu festival in November, has Proust's great novel, “In Search of Lost Time,” as its central theme.

On the opening day of the Liszt Festival, organized by the Liszt Academy between 9-22 October to commemorate the 210th birth anniversary of Franz Liszt, the Auer Trio will perform a matinee concert. The programme of the festival also includes a solo performance by pianist Mūza Rubackytė, member of the jury of the 2019 Bartók World Competition, as well as book launches hosted by the Franz Liszt Memorial Museum and Research Centre. “The October 22 birthday concert, which has by now become a tradition, will be held in collaboration with the Cziffra Festival this year. János Balázs and the Liszt Academy Symphony Orchestra will perform works by Liszt, Brahms and Bartók,”announced Dr Vigh Andrea. She added that a Hungarian and an English-language conference, a mini-series with pianists Edit Klukon and Dezső Ránki, as well as a solo performance by Fülöp Ránki will take place at the Old Academy of Music with the support of the Liszt Festivity organized by the Palace of Arts in Budapest. The Atrium of the university's main building will be home to the exhibition entitled "I'm Diving Ever Deeper in Dante's Dark Forest," which displays Dante's influence on Liszt's art and will be on view in Italy after Budapest.

This year's Bartók World Competition, which will take place between October 26 and 31, will feature string quartet ensembles: 13 quartets will take the stage in the semi-finals, according to András Csonka. Applications from young talents from America, Asia and Europe, including a Hungarian ensemble, prove the success of the campaign of the Liszt Academy, which organizes the event. After the announcement and despite the difficult circumstances caused by the pandemic, 33 ensembles from 19 countries submitted their applications, representing 31 countries in terms of members.

Photo: Liszt Academy / István Fazekas

The pre-jury led by the Kossuth Prize-winning violinist András Keller selected the contestants that will participate in the live rounds of the competition. The cooperation between the Franz Liszt University of Music, one of the leading music higher education institutions in Europe, and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, one of the most acclaimed European symphony ensembles, provides an opportunity for high-quality professional practice. Dr Judit Körmendy-Ékes, chairperson of the board of the Franz Liszt Chamber Music Foundation, spoke about the renewal of the 60-year-old ensemble last year. “It was only natural that we approached the Liszt Academy with the idea of the Master Play talent development programme that will provide a unique opportunity for the students of the institution. In addition to ensuring that participants gain considerable experience, the programme also promises joint concerts at the Liszt Academy and tours abroad.” István Várdai, artistic director of the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, explained that fifteen selected university students between the ages of 20 and 23 will be able to gain experience in orchestral performance as part of the Master Play programme. This will help their career and artistic development, and will allow them to work in an environment that will define the evolution of their musical careers for a lifetime, complementing what they have learned at university.

A multi-month period of rehearsals has recently begun with the selected students under the guidance of Artistic Director István Várdai and Concertmaster Péter Tfirst. The university and the chamber orchestra share the view that Hungarian classical music is an important export product, with an acclaimed global reputation, and Hungary has nurtured many solo artists who are at the forefront of the international musical world, proving the point that nurturing talent is a priority.