Budapest's Finest 2018 spring

At Budapest’s Gate: Szentendre

Soft Spoken Virtuoso: daniil trifonov

SPRING | 2018

Culinary Adventures in Budapest

the five star city guide

Skybar

Beneath the Budapest Sky

Free pu bl ic ation

The Sevso Treasure’s Long Road

Photo: © urabnfoto.hu

Photo: © Wagner Csapó József

introduction

Dear Reader, As the president of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, I am pleased to recommend the programmes offered this spring by the academy and its institutions.

The Mûcsarnok Hall is the representative exhibition space for contemporary art, where Hungarian and international artistic initiatives are introduced. With its events, unique guided tours and academic conferences, it is one of Budapest’s cultural centres. From 1 March to 13 May the institution of the Hungarian Academy of Arts presents a collaboration between the American photographer Sandro Miller and the world-famous actor John Malkovich entitled Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich, which pays tribute to artists such as Alfred Hitchcock, Andy Warhol and Annie Leibovitz, among others.

From 22 April to 20 August the Hand | Craft | Art exhibition will close the Mûcsarnok Hall’s Folk Art exhibition belonging to its National Salon series focusing on visual arts.

This comprehensive collection spans the precursors and present of contemporary folk art, and shows how today’s folk art enriches our lives.

The Vigadó Concert Hall, which functions as the headquarters of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, first opened in 1865 and was renovated in 2014. The Hall has been a favourite venue for cultural, artistic and social events in every era. The building’s splendour and magnificent appearance, as well as the high-quality programmes that it hosts, are an exceptional draw in terms of both artistry and tourism.

In addition to contemporary cultural events (the Budapest Spring Festival, CAFe Budapest, classical music series, and temporary exhibitions), guests can expect to find guided tours in multiple languages.

I hope our diverse assortment of events will attract an ever greater number of visitors to Budapest.

Dear Guest, As a dynamically emerging destination, Hungary has the potential to be considered a tourism great power in the years to come. Located in the heart of Europe and at the crossroads of eastern and western culture, the country offers excellent value for money and rich traditions to compete with other Central and Eastern European cities, while also integrating seamlessly into Europe’s broader cultural fabric. Our outstanding, image-building festivals, of which the Budapest Spring Festival is a classic example, put Hungary firmly on the festival map, ensuring visitors are always happy to return for other festivals and international sporting events.

Culture is the fifth most significant reason for tourists to visit the Hungarian capital. The world-famous performers and big names brought to the city for the Budapest Spring and Summer Festivals attract those with discriminating tastes who also know that they can see and hear these stars for much more favourable prices than they would in Western Europe.

Our famous thermal baths offer an opportunity for blissful relaxation between festivals and sporting events, so Budapest is always ready to recharge both the body and mind.

Teodóra Bán Director Budapest Festival and Tourism Center

György Vashegyi President Hungarian Academy of Arts 1

2018 | Spring

CONTENTS

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Óbuda: a city of secrets

Óbuda: city of secrets 5 A home for emperors, kings and Olympians

At Budapest’s Gate: Szentendre 18 A city of spires

Cultural quarter

At Budapest’s gate: Szentendre

City Guide

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Cultural quarter

The 19th century on your plate

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The soft-spoken virtuoso – Daniil Trifonov in Budapest Andrea Rost The Sevso Treasure’s long road Viktor Bodó The Zsabó baroque festival

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The new hotel from the Continental Group Eger wine and refined countryside cuisine The 19th century on your plate Óbuda’s Stelázsi Culinary tours in Budapest European Easter markets An ice age this spring Programme corner

28 32 35 38 42

44 46 50 52 54 56 58 62 64

On the cover: A St. Andrea Wine & Sky Bar 1052 Budapest, Deák Ferenc utca 5.

(Photo: © standreaskybar.hu)

To see the location on the map, simply scan the QR code with your smartphone.

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HE ADER

BUDAPEST CARD the official cit y pass

FREE

• FREE one-time entry to the St. Lukács Thermal Baths public • FREE entry to 13 museums transport • 2 FREE guided walking tours included • FREE Official Castle Bus in Budapest • FREE luggage storage as well as many additional events, services and experiences free of charge or at discounted rates, with savings between 10% and 50%

for more information:

www.budapest-card.com

4 Photo: © István Práczky

Óbuda: a city of secrets Óbuda and Békásmegyer have been populated since ancient times, and the oldest evidence of this was left by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago. One of Budapest’s oldest parts, Óbuda contains numerous exciting secrets waiting to be discovered. But history is not the only thing awaiting visitors, for those who come here will find music, contemporary visual arts, Hungarian cuisine and open-air programmes as well.

Aquincum, located in Óbuda, was Pannonia Inferior’s administrative centre for three centuries, and an important station on the Limes, the watchtower and fortress line defending the Roman Empire. In 2018, Hungary, together with Slovakia, Austria and Germany jointly nominated the defensive fortifications running along the Danube to UNESCO for consideration as a World Heritage Site.

Gyula Krúdy’s literary hero Szindbád awaits visitors to Óbuda at Fő Square

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A home for emperors, kings and Olympians History, tourism, fashion and gastronomy

Photo: budapestinfo.hu

Text: Andrรกs Olรกh

The Roman military presence in this Celt-populated region increased for commercial and defensive reasons, as many small camps were erected on either side of the Danube to defend the strategically important river crossing. The Aquincum legion was founded circa 89 AD, and its importance was revealed through the presence of Emperor Domitian at its inauguration.

Hadrian served here as a deputy commander earlier in his career before becoming emperor.

Many famous emperors also visited Aquincum during their campaigns, such as Marcus Aurelius, Caracalla, Diocletian, and Constantine the Great.

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Óbuda Photo: Balázs Csizik / Mittecomm.com

Aquincum was the capital of Pannonia Inferior for three centuries, and as a result of this it was surrounded by a military town with legions and administrative functions, while to the north a civilian town of merchants and industrialists developed. Ceramics from Aquincum were considered luxury items in distant regions.

water organ stands out among the rich collection of artefacts. Interactive computerised animations provide an introduction to the era’s dress, household furnishings, former cityscape and work by archaeologists. Each May the museum holds a Floralia festival to celebrate spring and each Christmas the Saturnalia is held. (The museum’s permanent exhibition can be visited for free with the Budapest Card.)

The mosaic in the Hercules Villa

The Roman amphitheatre’s ruins

Photo: Tímea Haszpra - hatimi.web.elte.hu

The legionary camp near today’s Flórián Square and its baths were excavated below the modern-day traffic overpass located here. The walls of the camp’s baths are shown on site by the Thermae Maiores Baths Museum. Also at Flórián Square one can see the legionary camp’s reconstructed southern gate (porta principalis dextra), and not far away between Kórház and Vöröskereszt streets the eastern main gate, the porta praetoria, while in the nearby streets the guesthouse Hercules Villa can be found, as can the remnants of a barracks and an ancient Christian chapel, the cella trichora. At the southern end of this legionary camp the amphitheatre located on the corner of today’s Nagyszombat and Pacsirtamezô streets can be found. With a capacity for 10-13,000 spectators, this 89x66 metre arena was larger than the Coliseum in Rome, and it is likely that the legion practiced on the site.

The amphitheatre in the civilian town north of Aquincum had a capacity of 6,000-7,000 spectators. This town is presented in the Aquincum Museum’s illustrated interactive exhibition. With a ruin-filled garden covering 10 hectares, the remains of the former town centre can be explored, and a reconstructed residential house complete with furnishings can also be seen. In the museum’s building, the reconstructed and playable

Photo: obuda.hu

Roman era memories

The Óbuda Gasworks were built on the 27-hectare plot of land located near the Aquincum Museum between 1910 and 1913, which served Budapest’s growing natural gas needs.

Today the Budapest-based multi-national architectural software development company Graphisoft has its headquarters on the site. A modern industrial park has grown up around it, the designers of which placed a great deal of emphasis on preserving the listed buildings.

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Photo: Steindl Gabriella / obudaianziksz.hu 3D: Gergely Buzás

Virtual reconstruction of the Óbuda royal palace

Due to the increasing frequency of barbarian invasions and as a result of the attacks by the Huns the region’s population dropped, and in 430 the Romans abandoned their defence of the province.

At the dawn of the Middle Ages The arriving Magyars used the ancient remnants of the military fortress for their accommodation, before Buda was developed in the 11th and 12th centuries, later becoming the royal seat.

The name Óbuda stems from the 13th century, when King Béla IV laid the foundations for Buda Castle following the Mongolian invasion. A new era in the city’s history began in 1343 when Louis the Great gifted Óbuda Castle to his mother, Elizabeth of Poland. The Queen consort then established the Clarissa Cloister, the foundations of which, together with the three-naved gothic church, can be seen in the garden of the Andor Ilona Primary School of the Arts. This institution, which placed an important emphasis on educating the daughters of the nobility stood here until 1529, when the Ottoman Turks set it alight. Of the few artistic treasures that survived, one is a household alter from the 1300s, which is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York’s collection. (The ruins can be seen from Kiskorona and Perc streets).

Two streets over, beneath Lajos Street 158, one can find the only surviving building from the Middle Ages in Óbuda, which stood on the bustling market square of the past. Today the building is an exhibition space for the Budapest Galéria, a respected institution of contemporary visual art.

Photo: obudaimuzeum.blogspot.hu

The old residence of the scribe Ferenc located next to the old market square

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Photo: István Práczky

Óbuda The main entrance to the Zichy Palace

Fô Square and the neighbouring Szentlélek Square host district festivals throughout the year. On the first weekend of May pop music concerts, family programmes and a crafts fair all celebrate Óbuda Day, while during the summer open-air cultural events are held on various weekends as a part of the Óbuda Summer programme series. In June a craft beer festival is hosted, and in September a wine festival is organised, while during Advent an ice rink and Christmas market contribute to holiday preparations.

Szentlélek Square with the district’s city hall in the background

Óbuda’s population shrank during the Ottoman occupation and its buildings – together with the castle – were left largely in ruins. Following the liberation of Buda in 1686 the city came into the possession of the Zichy family, one of Hungary’s largest aristocratic families, who in addition to the remaining Hungarian residents settled German (Swabian) farmers and admitted Jewish settlers as well, who in the 18th-19th centuries founded their strongest and most vibrant community here.

In Óbuda’s centre, equally approachable from Fô Square and Szentlélek Square, one will find the Zichy Palace built from 1746-1752. Following the death of Count Miklós Zichy (1785) who had the palace built, it came into the possession of the state treasury. Today it houses three museums.

On the side facing Szentlélek Square one can find the Vasarely Museum, which opened in 1987 and was recently renovated. Victor Vasarely, born Gyôzô Vásárhelyi (1906-1997) was a pioneer of op-art and the permanent exhibition contains more than 100 of his works. (The museum’s permanent exhibition can be visited for free with the Budapest Card.)

The Óbuda Museum also has its entrance from

Photo: István Práczky

After the Ottoman occupation

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Photo: mkvm.hu

Szentlélek Square, which with its rich collection expressively introduces the area’s curiosities, placing its emphasis on the Middle Ages and the 18th-19th century transformation. Visitors can enter the Kassák Museum from the adjacent Fô Square, which preserves the intellectual and material heritage of Lajos Kassák, an outstanding figure of Hungarian avant-garde. The works of this writer, poet, architect and painter are placed into a wider social context, and following the 2011 restructuring of its exhibit, the museum won two prestigious international design awards (the Red Dot Award: Communication Design, and the Good Design award).

From the end of April to the end of September the palace’s courtyard contains the Kobuci Kert beer garden and concert venue, which most evenings hosts concerts spanning the genres of world music, jazz, blues, alternative, pop/rock and Hungarian folk.

Photo: mkvm.hu

Take a step outside in Óbuda With the development of Pest-Buda in the 19th century, followed by the 1873 unification of Pest, Buda and Óbuda, this part of the city became a popular area for city dwellers to spend their leisure time. The surrounding hills were covered in vineyards until the grape phylloxera blight in 1880, and the wine brought customers in to the local restaurants. At this time Schrammelmusik and popular songs could be heard throughout their gardens. The writer Gyula Krúdy preserved the romantic atmosphere of the small pubs in Óbuda for posterity. Krúdy’s final residence at Korona Square 1, today the Hungarian Museum of Trade and Tourism, reveals the world of turn of the century cafes, restaurants, confectioneries and hotels. The museum naturally also tips its

Photo: www.textilmuzeum.hu

A little industrial history

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The Goldberger Textile Industry Museum introduces the development of the textile industry in Óbuda.

In 1784 the textile merchant Ferenc Goldberger established his kékfestô (painting on blue) plant within its walls. During the 19th century the plant expanded into a factory, and under Leó Goldberger the company became highly successful between the two world wars, opening subsidiaries on five continents despite the global economic crisis. The factory was damaged in World War II, and Goldberger perished in the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in 1945. After the war the factory was nationalised in 1948 and liquidated in 1997. The exhibition introduces the various technologies used for textile printing with an interactive exhibit in addition to presenting the factory and the Goldberger family’s history.

Photo: www.kiscellimuzeum.hu

Óbuda

hat to Krúdy, with two rooms decorated with the writer’s personal effects.

The local railway (HÉV) line that opened in 1888 led to Szentendre and created a quick link to the centre of town. Rómaifürdô and Csillagfürdô developed on the swampy plan located between the city limits and the still provincial Békásmegyer to the north, where public pools and boathouses were built on the Danube, the latter serving as the cradle of Hungarian rowing sports.

A museum from a cloister A pleasant path leads from Flórián Square to the slopes of Mátyás Hill, passing by Kiscelli Street.

Following an Austrian pilgrimage, the Zichy family placed a copy of the devotional statue of the Virgin Mary of Mariazel in a chapel, and this is where this area of the city received its name.

Later on a cloister and church were built for the Trinitarians, which was a blossoming pilgrimage site, until the monastic order was disbanded

by Emperor Joseph II in 1783. For a long time it operated as a military hospital, but in 1910 the furniture manufacturer Miksa Schmidt purchased and converted it. The palace was severely damaged in World War II and during the 1956 Revolution. Today this building complex houses the Kiscelli Museum / Municipal Gallery, which follows Budapest’s history from 1780 through unification and all the way to World War II. The gallery contains works by significant Hungarian painters such as Károly Ferency, József RipplRónai, Gyula Derkovits, Lajos Gulácsy, Jenô Barcsay, Lili Országh and the sculptor Gyula Pauer. The church ruins next to the museum host visual art exhibitions, performances and classical music concerts.

The Schmidt Palace in Kiscell

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Photo: esernyos.hu

Photo: Assay Péter

Photo: Balázs Csizik / Mittecomm.com

One can find the places of worship for three religious denominations in the Krúdy District just south of the Árpád Bridge bridgehead: (in clockwise order) the Hungarian Reformed Church, the Parish Church of Saint Peter and Paul, and the Óbuda Synagogue

Budapest’s oldest continuously operating Calvinist chapel, the Óbuda Reformed Church built in the Zopf style, stands a minute’s walk from Flórián Square in Kálvin Close. The church was already documented in the 1560s during the Ottoman occupation, and its vicarage was rebuilt in 1908-1909 according to plans by the noted Hungarian Reformed architect Károly Kós, who was inspired by Transylvanian traditions. In the building’s cellar and beneath the church the chapel of the Royal Óbuda Castle was recently excavated.

The Saint Peter and Paul Parish Church is located on a site where a church has stood since the 11th century, with the first church assumed to have been built by King Saint Stephen and Queen Gisela in 1015. Óbuda’s largest church was completed in 1749 and built in the Baroque style.

The Óbuda Synagogue is also located in Lajos Street, which is the oldest continuously operating synagogue in Budapest. Originally built in the Baroque style in the 18th century, due to its poor construction the synagogue was rebuilt according to plans by András Landherr in 1820, thereby gaining its current, classicist form, with a new southern façade and columned foyer.

One of Budapest’s largest manufacturing plants, the Óbuda Shipyard, operated from 1835 until the end of the 20th century on Óbuda Island. The factory, developed as a result of Count István Széchenyi’s initiative, was founded

by Elsô Duna-gôzhajózási Társaság (the First Danube Steamboat Company), and during its history built hundreds of high-quality passenger and freight boats, barges and other waterborne vessels, before going bankrupt at the end of the previous century.

Photo: István Práczky

Photo: Balázs Csizik / Mittecomm.com

Óbuda

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Sport, nature, leisure

Photo: Balázs Mohai

Photo: Balázs Mohai

Since 1993 the internationally acclaimed Sziget Festival has been held each year on Óbuda Island. This popular music festival has featured concerts by world-famous musicians such as Blur, Faith No More, Faithless, Iggy Pop, Iron Maiden, Muse, Nick Cave, Oasis, David Bowie, Prince, Prodigy, R.E.M., Snoop Dogg and The Cure. Its rich world music, street theatre and circus programmes add a splash of colour to the summer’s menu. Óbuda Island is a popular family destination during the rest of the year and is also a preferred location for dogwalkers, runners and bicyclists.

The Honvéd Sport Club’s kayak-canoe facilities are also located here. The club’s athletes, such as Katalin Kovács, Danuta Kozák and Gabriella Szabó are multi Olympic, World and European Champions.

Photo: Balázs Sánta

Kolosy Square, the part of Óbuda closest to downtown, offers a different variety of leisure activities.

Located on the site of the medieval Szentjakabfalva, the area today known as Újlak was developed by Swabian settlers who built single-story houses that recall the atmosphere of a market

square. Also called the Promenád, the area contains popular street food restaurants, confectioneries, cafés and other restaurants that have opened over the previous years. The oldest building is located at Bécsi Street 56, which is certain to have stood by the early 1780s, and is today known as

Symbol. The place holds eight event areas, among them a sport pub named after Hungarian football legend Ferenc Puskás. Across from the pub one can find a statue of the football legend who played for Honvéd, the Hungarian National Team and Real Madrid, which was sculpted by Dávid Tóth according to a design by Gyula Pauer.

Kolosy’s Square’s other interesting object is the air-cleansing CityTree moss wall erected on 1 September 2017. According to the design of the Green City Solutions creative team based in Germany, the wall reduces pollution equivalent to 275 city trees in an environment where trees cannot be planted. The first six months are a test run, with its extension pending an analysis of its pollution reduction results.

The statue of Ferenc Puskás next to the entrance to the Symbol restaurant

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Contemporary street art

On summer nights and weekends the Roman Beach is a popular destination among locals.

This area along the Danube shore was developed with boathouses and beaches in the 19th century.

Trekkers, families and dogwalkers are drawn by its proximity to the river and holiday atmosphere.

Photo: Simon Móricz - NOL.hu

Photo: István Práczky

The underpass at Flórián Square, as well as the firewalls for the Reformed Church’s vicarage and the Catholic Church’s rectory were decorated by artists over the previous years. Members of the Színes Város Csoport (Colourful City Group) drew inspiration from Victor Vasarely’s concept of bringing visual art closer to the average person. The idea is to refresh and replace the monotonous grey surfaces commonly found throughout the city with visually stunning works. The group’s artwork at Flórián Square references Vasarely’s geometric forms, while the vicarage’s firewall depicts several of Károly Kós’s other famous works.

At the entrance to the neighbouring Krúdy

Photo: Sánta Balázs

Óbuda

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Several years ago the Municipal Government created a tourist information point in the neighbouring building at Fô Square 2 with the name Esernyôs (“Umbrella”), which provides free brochures, a district map and has multi-lingual staff to assist visitors.

The multifunctional cultural community space hosts visual art exhibitions, film screenings, performances and concerts, and was recently expanded with a community office named after Gyula Krúdy’s hero Szindbád, as well as a modern events space suitable for 80 people. The Gázlámpa Kioszk, standing in the middle of the square, belongs to Esernyôs and serves coffee specialities and other delights from spring to autumn and during Advent. This small kiosk converted from a gas pressure regulator is proud of its high quality and lightly roasted speciality coffee, which is also served by the Esernyôs Café. Esernyôs received its name from the umbrella-wielding statue group

by Imre Varga located on the square’s corner and entitled Várakozók (“The Waiting”), which leads us towards the Laktanya Street gallery that showcases the artist’s oeuvre.

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Fô Square authentically mirrors Óbuda’s historical atmosphere. The square is dominated by the multi-story building complex belonging to the District III Municipal Government, and before it stands a statue by Péter Szanyi of Gyula Krúdy’s charming hero Szindbád, sitting next to his glass of wine.

Photo: István Práczky

Photo: esernyos.hu

Photo: István Práczky

District, the notable Hungarian writer’s works are presented on the side wall of the rectory.

The Óbudai Társaskör (Óbuda Social Circle) cultural centre operates in the former Korona Café and hosts exhibitions, theatre performances, jazz and chamber orchestra concerts, as well as literary evenings that draw visitors from far beyond Óbuda.

Many internationally recognised artistic formations feel right at home in this local institution, such as the Budapest Strings or the Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra.

FULL OF EXPERIENCE

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Photo: Eszter Gordon

HE ADER

At Budapest’s Gate:

Szentendre The old-fashioned cobblestone alleyways that zig-zag create the feeling as if we have just come across a small city on the Mediterranean coast. Instead, we are by the shores of the Danube, just downstream from where it turns south, barely twenty kilometres north of Budapest. The artistic town of Szentendre can be reached from Budapest with the HÉV suburban railway, with a car via Route 11 in under an hour, or more slowly with a boat, but with a much more scenic experience. The southern atmosphere found in Szentendre’s architecture is the result of its diverse ethnic makeup, as over the centuries it has been a centre of coexistence for Greeks, Serbs, Dalmatian, Slovaks, Germans and of course Hungarians. The city’s picturesque milieu attracted the artists who lived and worked here, whose memory is preserved by Szentendre’s many museums.

A view onto Fő Square from the tower of the Blagovesztenszka Church

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A city of spires Szentendre’s history goes all the way back to the Roman era, which is revealed by the Roman lapidarium, a few wall remnants and street names. During the European great migration, the Huns and Avars settled in the area, and the Magyars arrived in the 9th century.

Text: Zsuzsa Mátraházi

Szentendre’s history goes all the way back to the Roman era, which is revealed by the Roman lapidarium, a few wall remnants and street names.

During the European great migration, the Huns and Avars settled in the area, and the Magyars arrived in the 9th century.

In the 13th century the city became the seat of

Photo: Balázs Csizik - Mittecomm.com

Szentendre’s cityscape from the Danube

The Bóbics House on the Danube’s shore

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an arch-deanery, and Szentendre received staple and customs rights. The Bóbics House that stands on the corner of Fô Square and Görög Street is Szentendre’s largest commercial building, and was built in the mid-18th century in the baroque style. The building’s roof structure has retained the beams from which its pulleys once hung. The balcony on the building’s corner is not just decorative, for from this point one can see far away ships arriving on the Danube, or the arrival of goods from the south, as well as the loading and offloading of goods from boats. In addition to commerce, the residents of Szentendre primarily worked with boat and wagon building.

The city of seven towers The remnants of medieval Szentendre are preserved through only a few relics, among them the St. John the Baptist Parish Church built in the Romanesque and Gothic styles on the castle hill.

The church’s wall features Hungary’s oldest astronomical object from the 14th century, a sun dial that shows the passage of time.

Between 1420 and 1690 Szentendre received larger groups of refugees from Hungary’s south (today Vojvodina) on several occasions. In the 15th century Bulgarians from Macedonia and Dalmatians

Photo: szentendreihirek.hu

arrived, in 1687 Dalmatians arrived again, and in 1690 it was a wave of Serbs totalling 37,000 families, of which only a part remained in the city. Arsenije Čarnojević established his residence here, and went from being the Patriarch of Peć to the Metropolitan of Szentendre. Many did not intend their reloca-

Photo: szentendre.hu

Szentendre

The Parish Church of Saint John the Baptist on Church Hill with the Belgrade Bishop’s Cathedral visible in the distance

tion to be permanent. The hope of being able to return was revealed by the fact that they only purchased land large enough to build a house, at first primarily from wood. The buildings of various size in the downtown area stand on those small tracts of land. Fishermen and boatmen lived on the Danube side of 21

Photo: Balázs Csizik - Mittecomm.com

The Pozsarevacska Church was built in honour of the archangel St. Michael, at first from wood in 1690 and later from stone in 1759. Its sanctuary, according to Orthodox Church teachings, looks east, similarly to many other churches in Szentendre. The church’s iconostasis was built in 1742. Those interested in the Orthodox Church’s precious treasures should visit the Serbian Orthodox Museum. The cross standing on the city’s main square was erected by the Serbian merchants’ guild of Szentendre in 1763 in gratitude that the plague bypassed the settlement.

The artist colony Many artists have been drawn to the city by the Mediterranean atmosphere of its architecture, buildings resting against sloping hills and its gorgeous natural environment. Today dozens of visual artists, craftspeople, writers, poets, musicians and actors live in Szentendre.

Teachers from the University of Fine Arts visited Szentendre each summer from 1926 onward under the leadership of the renowned painter István Réti, and soon after the city leaders provided them with a former sanatorium building.

There they established the Szentendre Painters’ Association presided over by the realist Béla Iványi-Grünwald. With this they laid the foundation for the Szentendre Artist’s Colony, which included representatives of the European School, the École de Paris’s Hungarian section, the most significant Hungarian avant-garde artists, as well The Blagovesztenszka Church and plague cross located on Fő Square

The painting Dzsungelben (Baglyok) (“In the Jungle (Owls)”) by Jenő PaizsGoebel, 1932, oil on canvas

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the main street, while merchants lived on the other side, with the wealthier residents residing on Fô Square and in its vicinity. Vintners, ploughmen and fruit farmers lived along the roads leading into the hills. In time the gooseberry became the city’s characteristic fruit, although it must be added that the berry only became established following the grape phylloxera blight that wiped out the vineyards in the 1880s.

This new community erected a new church for themselves, and that is how in its 18th century heyday Szentendre became known as the city of seven spires. These seven spires reach for the sky to this day. Among the Orthodox churches, two were taken over by the Catholic Church and one by the Reformed Church. The Belgrade Bishop’s Cathedral is the ecclesiastical centre for Hungary’s Serbs, and one of the city’s main symbols is the Blagovesztenszka Church on Fô Square.

Situated in a walled garden, the Preobrazsenszka Church is only open to visitors annually on 19 August on the occasion of the Serbian parish feast, although the building houses amazing icons.

as abstract, constructivist, surrealist and Dadaist artists from the 1960s. Their works were the foundation for the Ferenczy Museum’s collection ranging from naturalism to public art. The institution’s important works naturally contain those of its namesake Károly Ferenczy, who lived in Szentendre, as well as his children’s: Valér, who followed in his father’s footsteps, the tapestry artist Noémi, and the sculptor and medallist Béni. From March a temporary exhibition featuring the works of Jenô Paizs Goebel titled “Silent, Dreaming Gardens” will open. The exhibition primarily focuses on the painter’s perception of nature and landscape, as well as the capacity for self-reflection that lies therein.

Among the artists with strong ties to Szentendre, many donated their works to the city, consequently there are many smaller museums that opened primarily in the 1970s, which enrich the local culture. One example was the constructivist Jenô Barcsay, the creator of the internationally acclaimed Anatomy for the Artist. Another example of local artists donating their work can be found in the museum dedicated to the symbolist, surrealist and Holocaust victim Imre Ámos and his wife the painter Margit Anna. Béla Czóbel, who is known for his cityscapes, still lifes and portraits, has many works in the great museums of the world in addition to the largest domestic public collections.

as the ceramicist Margit Kovács’s figurines await those interested throughout different buildings.

The ArtMill, the country’s third largest exhibition hall, which was based on an idea by the painters Dezsô Korniss and Pál Deim, opened before the turn of the millennium in Szentendre’s former saw mill. The ArtMill was established by 33 local artists with financial support from the European Union. The centre’s aim is to help find exhibition space irrespective of genre, style or age for works by local contemporary artists. An exhibition featuring selections from László Gerô’s collection will be displayed from 8 April to 20 May in the mill’s southern wing.

The Ferenczy Museum

The ArtMill’s buildings

Photo: szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu

Lajos Varga’s Hungarian avant-garde works, János Kmetty’s oil paintings and windows, as well

Photo: Balázs Csizik - Mittecomm.com

Szentendre

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The Szamos confectionery in Dumtsa Jenő Street

Photo: pestmegye.hu

Theatre artistry has also discovered the city. Students of the University of Theatre and Film Arts, led by Gábor Zsámbéki, who was a student at the time, in the 1960s realised that Szentendre’s main square is quite suitable for hosting theatre and opera performances, as the surrounding buildings offer a natural set. The Szentendre Teátrum grew out of this initiative, which annually premieres several works in various locations.

Photo: budapestinfo.hu

Photo: Eszter Gordon

In Roger Moore’s footsteps

But perhaps it would be best to start with a proper meal. The Görög Kancsó Restaurant opened on the Danube Promenade in 1961. The restaurant’s signage and interior decoration was created by the painter Imre Szánthó. Not long after opening the English writer Robert Graves had a meal here, while in 2006 Sir Roger Moore was a guest, who broke with his programme to have lunch here. The menu is dominated by Mediterranean flavours, but also includes several Hungarian specialities.

The Korona Restaurant on the main square is located in one of the oldest buildings in Szentendre.

Already a famous restaurant in the 19th century, it was once the centre of the city’s cultural life.

The restaurant preserved its folky, rustic interior

The city has numerous artistic sights as well. In the unique Micro Wonders Museum, the gold figurines created under a microscope by the Ukrainian artist Mykola Syadristy are displayed.

Photo: Eszter Gordon

The Korona Restaurant on Fő Square

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Parliament and Michael Jackson both take on miniature forms in the Szabó-Szamos Marzipan Museum and Confectionery that opened in 1994.

The two legends of Hungarian sweets Károly Szabó and Mátyás Szamos (who was born as Mladen Basits in Szentendre into a Serbian family) worked together to establish their store. In addition to the works meant to be seen, do not forget to sample those meant to be eaten.

and remained true to its predecessors. Korona’s kitchen serves Hungarian cuisine, avoiding trends and focusing on traditional flavours.

The vintner’s house, the so-called Ráby House, is a typical baroque building with a grand entrance featuring cassettes, a wrought iron cellar gate and stone-framed windows. The restaurant operating within it was founded in 1982, and the building functioned as a smith’s workshop 100 years ago.

The owner János Németh has constantly rotated the antiques on display in the restaurant, much to the delight of his guests.

The country’s first privately owned restaurant under communism, the Aranysárkány, opened in 1977. Local specialities are prepared in front of guests in its open kitchen located behind the centuries old grape press, such as the Serbian sample plate, the dragon bouillon soup, the magical creamed spinach, and the Pilis strawberry cream cheese dumpling.

Photo: OSZK képtár - Szalay

Szentendre

The Hungarian Open Air Museum

Folk traditions are practiced on important holidays such as Easter and Whitsunday, but on other occasions visitors can still bake pogácsa or pretzels, make candles, weave hemp or practice leathering.

The internationally acclaimed Hungarian Open Air Museum in Szentendre, also known as the “Skanzen”

Photo: OSZK képtár - Szalay

Photo: OSZK képtár - Szalay

A visit to the Hungarian Open Air Museum (Skanzen) provides a full day’s worth of activities.

Situated over 57 hectares, visitors can see nine of Hungary’s folk regions over the course of several hours and thus take in folk architecture with its relocated structures. The 50-year-old institution originally planned to relocate more than 400 structures into this museum, which were to be sit-

uated in a village setting for guests. The Skanzen has a train, bicycles for hire and small wagons for children to assist guests in getting around its widespread territory.

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26 Photo: Andrรกs Dabasi - Judit Kardos

Cultural quarter “Creative freedom is the greatest delight� – the world famous soprano Andrea Rost says in the following pages. Beyond this only the audience can indulge in more, who have the freedom to choose, as well as the feeling that they can share in the delight of the creative performers while sitting in the audience or wandering the halls of a museum.

The Hungarian capital hosts and features stars throughout the year, but the cultural scene becomes especially vibrant in March and April as the programmes of the Budapest Spring Festival launch the spring season. In addition to famous music, dance and theatre artists, opportunities are given to fresh initiatives and surprising experiments. While choice may be a privilege that belongs to the audience, that does not make it any easier.

The Sevso Treasure with a troubled history, which will be featured in the Hungarian National Museum from this year onward

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SOFT-SPOKEN VIRTUOSO Daniil Trifonov in Budapest Text: Judit Petrányi • Fotók: Dario Acosta

One of the world’s top-ranked pianists at the age of 26, Daniil Trifonov is scheduled to perform at the Budapest Spring Festival this year. His first Budapest guest appearance in 2013 was a huge success. On that occasion Trifonov performed an orchestral concert, but this time the celebrated artist who was just recently awarded his first Grammy will perform a solo recital.

Trifonov does not give more than one interview per concert, and this time Budapest’s Finest has received that honour.

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Cultur al quarter When a review last January in the magazine The New Yorker wrote that the Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov had created a furor, the critic was quick to remind readers that the term was a familiar one in the annals of super-virtuosity. “PIANIST CREATES FUROR” was a headline in the New York Times when Vladimir Horowitz first played in Carnegie Hall, in 1928. The word used was not ’interest’, or ’sensation’, but ’furor’.

When I called Trifonov well in advance of his arrival, I heard a soft-spoken, modest young man on the other end of the line. His modesty is equalled only by his achievements. In 2016, readers of the prestigious magazine Gramophone honoured him with the Artist of the Year Award. At the end of January this year, the young pianist was presented with his first Grammy Award in New York in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category for Transcendental, an album of works by Ferenc Liszt.

“It is fabulous how this album literally transcends the extreme technical difficulties of Liszt’s music – insurmountable for many pianists.” This is how Dr. Clemens Trautmann, President of Deutsche Grammophon expressed his joy and appreciation.

Six years earlier, when Trifonov was only 20, he won, practically one after the other, both of the top-ranked international piano competitions, the Tchaikovsky in Moscow and the Rubinstein in Tel Aviv. The ensuing years have proved him to be more than “just” a wunderkind, but a truly great artist. He creates magic when he plays with the top orchestras in practically all of the big concert halls around the world.

In 2011 the legendary Argentine pianist Martha Argerich said: “What he does with his hands is technically incredible. It’s also his touch – he has tenderness and also the demonic element. I never heard anything like that.”

What is his secret? He dodges the answer. Or perhaps he does not.

“It gives me enjoyment to explore my repertoire and the piano has such a large repertoire. Of course it takes time with each piece to really get into it and this has an evolution. When you open a score for the first time, it’s very different from its first performance and again very different when you play it for a couple of months. One discovers new things not only while practicing a piece but also on stage.

Also, I like to listen to great recordings, those of other works by the same composer: symphony, chamber music or opera. It helps me put the piece I am to perform in a musical context.”

And so he continues to study, search and immerse himself ever deeper into the literature. That is why, 29

although he is capable of performing many more works, he only keeps enough material for five to seven concerti and one or two recital programmes in his annual repertoire.

Who does he consider to be the greatest pianists of all time? From among the legendary performers he mentions Horowitz, Cortot, Rachmaninoff, Schnabel and Dinu Lipatti.

“Of course, there may be many more”, he adds.

How many hours does he spend practicing his piano every day?

“Earlier it went up to nine,” he says, “But I realised that was just too much. So now I do no more than six or seven hours.

Sometimes when I travel or have a tight schedule, I don’t practice at all.” He was 13 when he once fell and broke his left hand and could not play for three weeks. It was absolute torture, he says. Those three weeks made him realise how important music really was for him.

It is his inheritance. Trifonov was born into a musical environment thanks to a choirmaster grandmother, music theory professor mother and composer father. But it was not his family that wanted him to learn to play the piano. As he explains, when he was five his father got himself a synthesiser, and the younger Trifonov was allowed to play with it. When the child had enough with pressing all those buttons, he turned around to explore the upright piano and found that to be even more interesting. A few months later he became a student at a Nizhniy Novgorod music school. Nizhniy is the third largest

Trifonov’s composer’s debut, his Piano Concerto in E-flat Minor was performerd in Carnegie Hall with Valery Gergiev leading the Mariinsky Orchestra. A review in the New York Times wrote this about the work: „Full of romantic fervour and pulsing lyricism (…) Daniil Trifonov’s Piano Concerto was commissioned by the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was once a student. He played the premiere at the school in 2014. Given such an op-

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city in Russia, but it is not a major cultural centre. Recognising their child’s striking talent, Daniil’s parents moved to Moscow so that their eight year old son could attend the famous Gnessin School of Music. Nine years later, upon the recommendation of his teacher Tatiana Zelikman, he continued his studies in Cleveland with the prominent Armenian teacher and piano virtuoso Sergei Babayan, who had difficulty believing that a year would be enough to prepare his pupil for the world’s most challenging international piano competition.

Why did he have to move to America for that? “But it wasn’t America I needed. I needed Babayan. He was a graduate of Moscow Conservatory, the same school that gave the world giants such as Sviatoslav Richter or Emil Gilels.”

So, is there a Russian School of piano playing? And if so, what is its strength? Trifonov says if there is anything that characterises the “Russian School”, it is that the teacher respects the personality, attitude and approach of the student.” Like a director in a movie who would find a role for his actor and then make the actor shine in that role. I had teachers like that.”

Trifonov was already a famous and acknowledged pianist when he returned to Babayan to continue learning from him. The two virtuosos also gave a highly successful two piano concert in 2016. More recently, however, Babayan voiced some concerns, that this soft-spoken, modest young man focuses with

portunity, many aspiring composers would have set about writing a fiercely original piece. Mr. Trifonov chose instead to honor the heritage of Russian composer-pianists, especially Scriabin, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev. His concerto basks in their music; elements of their styles come through unabashedly. So does Mr. Trifonov’s love for and understanding of these figures he reveres. That earnestness is what makes his concerto so lovable.”

Cultur al quarter such intensity on his music, thus transferring his whole being into his performance, and thereby gives so much of himself on the stage. Trifonov is not sparing with his energy. Sometimes he has to remind himself to ease up on the flow of things. “I try to keep it more in control. There used to be years when I gave 130 concerts, which was too much, but now I am trying to keep it around one hundred.” As it stands, he is still among the list of pianists with the highest annual number of concerts.

“When on tour, I fly home after every two weeks.” These days home is New York where a young wife now waits for him. She is a musician too. “She understands and accepts all this.”

When we talk for about twenty minutes on the phone, Trifonov is in Berlin in a rehearsal room of the Berlin Philharmonic. I ask him about his days in Budapest five years ago, a visit that he recalls pleasantly.

“I played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto in B flat minor with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. It was a memorable visit, my first one to Hungary. I had some time to explore the city and found it beautiful. I even hiked in Buda, in the hills; it was lovely. Also, it was a great experience to play with that excellent orchestra, the public was wonderful, the Concert Hall of the Liszt Academy is just gorgeous and I am really happy to come back.”

Trifonov has assembled an exciting program for his next encounter with the Budapest public and festival guests. The concert will focus on a composer who holds a special place in his heart, Chopin, who in his mind will forever be associated with his first serious victory – a third place finish at the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. He had learned three hours of Chopin’s music for that contest.

“The more you learn these works, the more you love them.

Chopin has forever changed the piano language and the way the piano can be an instrument of poetry. And with that he has inspired many composers spanning over a hundred years.

The Budapest concert features compositions in which you can actually hear this inspiration, I mean, Chopin’s music. This is interesting and surprising. And yet, the composers of these works, ranging from Schumann and Grieg, through Barber and Rachmaninoff are also very much there with their own voices and personalities.”

Much the way Trifonov himself is always there in the pieces that he plays.

What would he have done during the intermission, if he had not given me this interview? Relax a bit? Read a book? Take a short walk for a breath of fresh air? No, he says, he would be working on his composition project. We know, because it has been reported in the papers, that his debut as a composer took place at Carnegie Hall in November 2017. Judging by the reviews, it was well received. Now Trifonov is working on a new composition. “Time is pressing, I will be playing the piece I am now orchestrating at the end of June in Denmark and Germany. It’s not a piano concerto, it will be a quintet.” He has a growing interest in chamber music these days. btf.hu

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“Creative freedom is the greatest delight” Text: Rita Szentgyörgyi • Fotók: László Emmer

The world-famous Hungarian soprano will take the stage together with her daughter, Eszter Harazdy, in a unique Mother – Daughter concert as part of the Budapest Spring Festival. The programme will include numerous surprises in addition to popular opera arias by Handel, Mozart, Gluck, Rossini and Puccini. Also worth noting is that Rost will perform the title role in Richard Strauss’s first successful opera Salome at the Margaret Island Open-air Stage, which will be a highlight of the Budapest Summer Festival. We discussed the two exceptional performances with the artist.

A precursor to the Mother – Daughter concert was the singing of the Cat Duet together with your daughter at your 25th anniversary jubilee concert. Was this the inspiration behind this aria concert?

That’s roughly how it happened. Eszter earned her degree in Opera at the Liszt Academy of Music, but she decided that she didn’t want to follow in my footsteps, and now blends classical singing with electronic music. She found collaborators in two young composers, a young man from Dresden and a young Hungarian woman. They will sing their compositions at our concert.

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How did you respond to her choice of career?

It was difficult and a burden for Eszter that she was always compared to me. As I see it, she has now developed the self-confidence to embark on her own artistic career. I consider it exemplary that next to a famous mother and additionally as a daughter, she has the courage to attempt something entirely new despite her classical music education. She lives in Berlin with her partner, and is currently preparing to be accepted into a talent search programme on German television.

Cultur al quarter Did her voice predestine her to embark on a classical music career?

She has a very beautiful voice. Had she remained in the opera world, I would have nudged her in the direction of baroque. I still sing the coloraturas, if I’ve practiced enough, but compared to me Eszter has a very swift voice. In addition to singing she obsessively takes photos and prepares portraits. Her visual attributes are excellent, as is the case for my son Máté, who earned an art degree in Berlin. As a mother it was always important for me not to smother my children. The one thing I always kept in mind was their happiness. I never forced anything upon them, and perhaps I was too lenient with them. They could try anything, as a result of which they gained many experiences.

You said earlier that you would not sing Tosca or Salome. Did the concert-like performance of Bluebeard’s Castle create a breakthrough for you towards dramatic roles?

I always enjoy it when life proves me wrong. We will hold two newer performances of Bluebeard’s Castle in May at the Liszt Academy together with Concerto Budapest conducted by András Keller.

I also deeply desired to perform Tosca. I’ve become weary of helpless victim roles. I wanted to perform smarter and more dominant women, who are not just victims of the situations created by men.

What are your expectations for the role of Salome, which is especially complicated not only vocally but psychologically as well?

I’m excitedly awaiting the Margaret Island performance, János Szikora’s direction and the fantastic cast. I have never before shared the stage with Ildikó Komlósi, who will perform as Herodias. I consider Salome my life’s most exciting and feminine role. She is a terribly complex figure, who exhibits love, cruelty, erotica and murder. Salome is aware of her seductive power and that she can achieve anything with it. She lives in a state of moral degradation, but is nonetheless attracted to noble things. She falls in love with Saint John the Baptist’s purity, his snowwhite body and beautiful hair. The situation that develops between them is exceptionally erotic.

She kills him so that he can belong to no one else.

That’s how I imagine it.

Over the previous years you’ve entered an experimental period from Pannon songs at the shared performance with Pál Frenák to the songs based on the verse of the poet Mascha Kaléko. What brought this change?

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Creative freedom is the greatest delight that an artist can receive. Not long ago I launched an artistic foundation. My plan is that once we can afford to, I will launch a music composition competition for, among others, the song cycle being prepared for Mascha Kaléko’s poems. My other great love is fairy-tale literature, and Japanese and Hungarian folk stories, which I would like to combine with music. For now, it’s only a dream on my part, of how happy I would be if Péter Eötvôs were to compose music for certain stories. Rather oddly, we’ve yet to meet in person, which I’m really looking forward to. I am extremely excited by his knowledge and intellectuality.

What was the reasoning behind launching an artistic foundation?

Today it is quite popular to reach out to the youth. If I were young today, then I’d say leave me alone, I don’t want to be bothered, I’ll look into something if its interests me.

Today children know where to look for the necessary information. We’d like to provide assistance to the age group between 30 and 45 years of age, and provide them attention, since they receive less of it. I can see from my daughter’s example that for many it’s around 30 that they decide what they want to do with their lives.

In addition to financial support, I would bring people from various artistic genres together with patrons. I have a large house, and it could finally serve a valuable function. I could also host smaller concerts.

Last year you were selected to be a goodwill ambassador for the Petô Institute [which teaches children with cerebral palsy]. What responsibilities do you have in this position?

I took on caring for talent at the Petô Institute, and initiated the creation of music rooms for every school belonging to the institute, which operates in 20 countries. Furthermore, I agreed to bring the Petô choir together with the Hungarian Radio Children’s Choir and the Hungarian Radio Orchestra. I am quite happy that we will hold a concert in December at the Vigadó Concert Hall, where the children can sit among the musicians.

What’s important is that they be surrounded by music, since each day they must struggle for their everyday existence. What we’re 34

striving to do through music therapy is that in addition to trying instruments, these children will also receive a musical experience with the assistance of skill developing machines.

We’ll organise a fundraiser for this programme, with the first held in Budapest.

What type of important artistic encounters does 2018 hold?

I’m absolutely planning to meet with Ildikó Enyedi. When she received the Prima Primissima Prize we hugged each other and agreed that it would be great to collaborate on something.

Ildikó is a fantastic and free artist. Perhaps my visions, dreams and plans for film tied to music can inspire her. She and I have a similar visual way of looking at things. Ever since I was a child film and moving pictures have attracted me, which is why I enjoyed the shoot for the Bánk bán opera film so much. It’s very important for me that I work not only as a singer, but that I can enter other dimensions and media. Everything that has occurred with me during my career has been fantastic and the stuff of dreams, but perhaps there is even more ahead for me. I feel that I’m in a creative period, where I can cross over from the material to the spiritual plane. According to Buddhist teachings, the highest degree is healing, and I don’t know, if I’ll ever reach it.

Over the past few years you’ve performed much more in Hungary than abroad.

This has been a deliberate decision. I could have but didn’t move to Vienna, I did not stay in Berlin, I did not go to America. I’ve been to many places in the world, absorbed many influences and experiences, but I always brought my treasure chest home. Recently I was invited to perform four concerts in Tokyo.

I have very strong ties with Japan, having regularly performed there for 21 years, and I can almost feel at home there. I love Japanese culture and their lifestyle; they do everything according to my tastes. In addition to singing, I also teach master classes at the Kirishima International Music Festival. I also have a big dream in regards to Japan. The year 2019, which will be the 30th anniversary of my career, is also the year the current emperor will abdicate. I would like to sing at the new emperor’s inauguration, who is the same age as me. Who knows, it just might happen! btf.hu

Cultur al quarter

The Sevso Treasure’s long road A huge challenge and nearly impossible job

Priceless in value, the 14 silver plates and copper cauldron that contained them from the late Roman era make up the Sevso Treasure, which has been exhibited in six Hungarian cities.

After 15 April the treasure will find its worthy home in Budapest in the Hungarian National Museum. With us to discuss the treasure’s history, location and how they were identified in a story worthy of Agatha Text: Györgyi Orbán Christie’s pen is the archaeologist Zsolt Mráv, deputy director Pictures: András Dabasi - Judit Kardos of the National Museum’s Department of Archaeology.

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Will scholars scrutinise the materials in Budapest?

A complex research programme was launched in 2014 backed with state support and the cooperation of multiple domestic institutions following the arrival home of the Sevso Treasure’s first seven items. After the other half of the treasure was reacquired, a new situation and unexpected opportunity arose, since every known piece of the treasure was now available.

Following the treasure’s return from the countryside, we expect to receive two months for the researchers to personally study the objects. What will greatly assist us in our work is that the high-resolution 3D models are largely complete, which makes studying the works of art possible without having to move them around. This does not, however, replace personal contact between the object and the scholar. The research project also has a great number of participants, featuring notable Hungarian and international scholars.

The Sevso Treasure probably left the country in the early 1980s, and one of the stations for reacquiring them was New York. The British possessors wished to sell them at auction through Sotheby’s. This launched a series of lawsuits, since Lebanon, Yugoslavia and Hungary all claimed the silver treasures that had been sold with falsified certificates of origin.

During the litigation Lebanon withdrew, while the Yugoslavian successor state Croatia and Hungary maintained their ownership interest but could not unequivocally prove that the artefacts were found on their territory. The results of the soil sample tests supporting the Hungarian position could not be placed before the jury. During the lawsuit, there could be no mention of the four-legged collapsible silver stand – the quadripus – discovered in 1878 in Kôszárhegy, although several researchers emphasised its connection to the Sevso Treasure.

They also did not consider as direct evidence that one of the silver plates mentioned the Roman era name of Lake Balaton, Pelso. Determining where a work of art originated in cases where its existence cannot be traced

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all the way until discovery is a huge challenge and nearly impossible job. In the Sevso Treasure’s case the trail could only be traced back to Vienna, after which the verifiable threads were lost.

There is talk of a group of 40 artefacts. Of these did any appear on the international art market, if they were taken abroad? Or is it possible that they are still buried in the ground?

This is less likely. We do not know, and probably never will, the total number of pieces in the treasure. There are witnesses who claim that they saw 40 objects, but it is also possible that they only saw the more significant pieces that were shown to them.

The pieces of the Sevso Treasure testify to imperial tastes and have a heterogenous composition. They were not acquired all at once, and the plates were not the product of a single workshop. What we know today as the Sevso Treasure is the dining and washing set that a family accumulated over generations.

The Sevso plate’s medallion features a verse inscription in which the gift giver imparts to Sevso his wish that the plates be used by his descendants for centuries to come. What this all reveals is that not only were the plates a personalised gift, but that the gift was provided for the occasion of Sevso’s wedding.

The plate depicting hunting together with an open-air feast is inscribed with the words “Lacus Pelso”, or rather Lake Balaton in Hungarian. Was this not enough evidence of Hungarian ownership for the New York court?

In truth this is the most concrete connection between the Sevso plate and the late Roman era province of Pannonia. We can say with certainty that this plate was once used in the vicinity of Lake Balaton.

Sevso probably lived near the lake. Of the other plates we do not know if Sevso was still the owner or if it was his descenda nt s at the time

cultur al quarter that they were hidden. It is quite fortunate that the Pelso inscription was not removed on the black market for antiquities.

What is quite certain is that they did not know that this was a known and identifiable geographic property name, and probably believed that it referred to one of the hunting dogs depicted on the plate.

How much more time do scholars need to learn as much as is possible about the Sevso Treasure?

We planned on a five-year scientific research period with the first seven objects. It would be ideal if we could receive as much time with the second seven objects, but if we receive at least three to four to examine these artefacts, then by the end of the research period it is quite likely that we could produce a mature academic work of international standing. Studying the treasure’s silver plates will naturally continue once the programme is over. There is every reason to believe that generations will continue to study the immeasurable amount of information that the Sevso Treasure holds.

Are there any ongoing digs at Kôszárhegy or nearby?

Yes, but these excavations are not directed solely at Kôszárhegy. We are not limited to only studying the area where the Sevso Treasure was discovered, for we need to understand that specific social class – the imperial elite – the members of which possessed sets similar to the treasure. We must perform various types of archaeological work in order to determine the treasure’s context. Sevso’s person can be better understood by studying the areas bounded by Sárvíz, Sárrét

A story worthy of a crime novel The Sevso Treasure is one of the most mysterious collection of objects in Hungarian art history. The unparalleled artefact group’s discovery and removal from Hungary in the early 1980s is worthy of a crime novel, and probably involved assistance from the communist era secret police. In 1975-1976 József Sümegh found a set of silver plates used for eating or washing up along with water jugs in two large cauldrons, totalling 40 objects in total according to some.

Pannonia (today’s Transdanubia) was conquered by the army of the Roman Empire during the rule of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). Sevso probably lived in a grand villa near Lake Balaton, and belonged to the elite of the era. Perhaps he served the emperor as a high-ranking military officer or administrative official. Sevso’s name can be read on one of the plates, which gives the treasure its name. It is highly probably that Sevso or his descendants buried this unparalleled collection, part of which was a wedding gift, due to the frequent barbarian raids in the late 4th and early 5th centuries.

After discovering the artefacts, Sümegh sold them piece by piece instead of handing them in. He also frequently appeared at Budapest’s jumble sales. Sümegh bought land from this income, but spoke of his discovery to others, which may have led to his death. In 1980, just days before his discharge from compulsory military service, Sümegh was found hanging in a cellar in Kôszárhegy. The death was ruled a suicide, but ten years later the case was reopened and the death was ruled a murder, with the investigation ongoing ever since.

and Lake Balaton, where we are researching the historical conditions of Roman era settlements. We’ve identified many other archaeological sites, and numerous important artefacts have been found. In fact, in 2015 the National Museum received a private collection that originates from this area. We are working on excavating a villa with amazing mosaics in Nagyharsány, Baranya County. This is the sole centre of a large estate in Pannonia for which we know the owner, who was certain to have belonged to the imperial elite. In nearby Beremend we found an inscribed bronze tablet, in which the virtues of a former governor named Valerius Dalmatius are praised. Currently we are excavating the great feast hall, where we found beautiful stained-glass mosaics. This site unequivocally proves that a class of big estate owners were present in late imperial Pannonia, who lived in large luxury villas, and to whom Sevso could have once belonged. A sensational archaeological discovery was made in 2012 in Vinkovci, Croatia, on the site of the Roman-era city Cibalae, consisting of 48 various late Roman silver objects, among them feast plates, which are similar but simpler. The objects from this discovery date to the same period as the Sevso Treasure.

The Sevso Treasure will be displayed in the Hungarian National Museum from this spring as part of a new permanent exhibition. Has the exhibition space already been designated?

Yes, the exhibition space is ready, which will be a worthy location for this unparalleled collection of art. It will be a rich collection, for in addition to the 14 silver objects, the copper cauldron in which the treasure was hidden will also be displayed. But the four-legged stand found in Kôszárhegy will also be included, as will a film introducing the digitised 3D models of the objects. With this technology the exhibition will be more exciting and we can show how the treasure’s pieces were actually used.

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with few accessories, nothing unnecessary Viktor Bodó, the restless traveller Text: Rita Szentgyörgyi

He is a workaholic, teambuilding theatre-creator, and founder of one of the most attentiondeserving and internationally recognised Hungarian troupes, the Szputnyik Hajózási Company.

As an independent composer, Viktor Bodó has racked up numerous successful performances, including in the German speaking lands. This year a co-production of Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Person of Szechwan by the Katona József Theatre and the Heidelberg Theatre Company will entertain audiences at the Budapest Spring Festival.

This is the third time you’ve directed in Heidelberg. After the Faust Prize-nominated Ubu Roi and Fahrenheit 451, how did the idea to take Brecht’s drama to the stage form?

Artistically it was important that the actress Lisa Förster, who I met during my previous works, would be suitable for performing The Good Person of Szechwan’s dual male-female role.

She’s an exceptional talent, who in addition to fragility and delicacy also possesses a raw devastating power that is necessary for the role. Since it is a German-Hungarian co-production, we had to bear in mind practical perspectives such as how many Hungarian actors of what age could participate in the performance as guests, and that it be reasonable that they speak with accents. The actors from the Katona Theatre’s troupe who depict gods, such as Blanka Mészáros, Béla Mészáros and István Dankó were joined by Anna Szandtner of the Örkény Theatre. I first saw Blanka at university. She has a delicate humour and is a sensitive talent with excellent capabilities. István Dankó is an energetic and attentive actor, and an excellent team member. Béla Mészáros and I attended university together. Since the first time we worked together, he has been an important actor in my life. Anna Szandtner, who I also attended university with, was a founding member of the Szputnyik Company, and a defining figure in my professional life. She brings a rare intelligence and humour to her work and has no trouble performing in foreign languages. Their presence, professional knowledge and talent played a deciding role during the entire rehearsal period.

How much effort went into adapting the story into the present?

I do not attempt to react to contemporary events for international performances, since I’m not entirely familiar with what is going on in a given location. In Cologne I was asked to direct The Government Inspector, but I turned it down, since I have not experienced German corruption. In Brecht’s case I don’t have to exert myself to make the story contemporary, since he speaks of basic human crimes, with a deliberately dry and humourless, or very wily or perhaps even devilish mischievousness. A 38

fundamental question posed by the piece is can we fulfil God’s demand that we be good, if that means that our surroundings will consume us? We cannot. Or can we? They can’t tell us by the end either. This is why Shen Teh is torn apart. Tragically. Necessarily. In the case of The Good Person of Szechwan I searched for a theatre that is actor-centric. I also asked the set designer to devise a stage that contains the most practical and important information. It was the same for the costumes: simple, with few accessories, nothing unnecessary. The actors sit on two sides, and the tobacconist’s and the tobacco factory are depicted in a minimalist way.

Is Brecht’s universal “educational story” really about humanity’s battle between good and evil?

Brecht presents a terribly precise picture of human depravity.

If he lived today, he would certainly “throw” a piece at us in Hungary. In a somewhat fairy-tale style our inner turmoil is mirrored by the coming face-to-face with the gods, and compliance with them in The Good Person of Szechwan. This piece raises these timely issues with Brecht’s customary dry humour.

So long as humanity exists on Earth, is the world suitable for man to be good on it? And what is goodness? In fact, Brecht condenses every substantive thing into the text. We need no further illustration, otherwise the material will just become confusing and uncomfortably decorated. We worked a lot with the actor’s transformation from a woman to a man, to which we found a stylistic solution, but it is primarily the character’s habits that need to change. Everything is essentially in the actors’ hands. I really enjoyed this type of theatre and the intense work with the actors.

After the spectacle, sound and parade of ideas that move every sense, do you have a greater desire for simplification?

I have certain manias, from which I cannot free myself. I feel they are entertaining and can be developed. Dream dramaturgy. Varying styles, packing layers, I love quick shots, and that scenically we turn the house upside down, so that everyone has something to do, who is there with us. Everything is related

Photo: © Dániel Dömölky

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Photo: © Sebastian Bühler

and assumes each other, therefore it all moves together with the light, the sound, the music and the actors’ performance style, which “bends” to some kind of warped, grotesque world.

How did you begin to specialise in the German-speaking lands? How did the permanent collaboration with Graz’s Schauspielhaus develop, or with the theatres of Heidelberg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Vienna, Cologne and Basel?It is fundamentally typical for Germany, Austria and Switzerland that they are exceptionally open to internationalism, and for breathing in various cultures, and for creating new works through collaborations and competitions. I’m bound to certain people and places. For the guest performance of Ledarálnakeltûntem by the Katona Theatre in Düsseldorf, I met theatre director Anna Badora. When the moment came to establish Szputnyik, she was happy to participate in a co-production each year. My other such partner was Karin Beier, the former director of the Cologne Theatre. Later on, Badora moved to Vienna and Beier to Hamburg to be theatre directors, and we’ve continued our collaborations since Szputnyik ended.

You’ve appeared at many festivals in a creative capacity or as part of the audience. What is key for a festival to become successful and internationally competitive?

In my opinion what is most important is that the festival not be a competition, but instead an overview. From the moment there is competition, the majority of those invited can become unhappy or disappointed if they don’t win at the end. Unfor40

tunately, we can learn less from festival prizes than from failures. Success will frequently provide people with an incorrect perception. It may even send them in the wrong direction, as they wish to recreate what they’ve already been recognised for, instead of studying or evolving. And if we nonetheless need a prize, then in my opinion it should be a serious amount that a young artist or team can use to continue their work, such as a scholarship or production management. This would be genuine and valuable recognition. In addition to the big names, I think a festival should also introduce young talents and fresh initiatives because it makes it more vibrant. Furthermore, the costs of staging a giga-production could instead be turned towards inviting six small troupes. It is important for new aspirants to meet with the more professional performances and big names. An example is Christoph Marthaler, who I met at a festival and who significantly influenced my work as a director.

If we see a variety of things, it reaffirms in us that it is worth taking our own path and creating new things. It would be important if the troupes could get to know each other’s work.

What should not be the case is unpacking, performance, repacking, sleeping and going home. I’ve witnessed incredibly arduous schedules that just wipe everyone out so that there’s no festival atmosphere. I believe a theme is less important, because it limits the possibilities.

You’ve tried many types of theatre, being a child actor, film actor, and a founder of the Ad Hoc and Magma troupes before Szputnyik. You’ve belong to Krétakör, directed at the

cultur al quarter Katona, and worked independently and with community theatres.

The basis for everything is restlessness and searching for a way.

In the seventh and eighth grades I began with the Harlekin Children’s Theatre. I’ve always been interested in creating my own team, finding those who think similarly, and setting common goals. During my high school years, we continued with the Ad Hoc troupe, which had new members joining from the various schools that I attended. What I’ve sought out during my life is how could I take on something new, how could I feel better. I likely have difficulty staying in one place for an extended amount of time.

ly present, and that everything comes together with the three or four sentences he directs at a rehearsal process.

Did your interest in theatre stem from your upbringing?

As far as I know, I’m not descended from anyone who was involved with theatre or film. There was a goldsmith, textile industrialist, engineer, inventor and a handyman. For a time, my father painted a lot, and I sat next to him, and one of my grandmothers performed as a dance singer under the name Edit Szenti. We lived together with my grandparents, who had an enormous film collection on VHS, and I watched tonnes of films that no doubt influenced my career.

You’ve also shined as one of the highly sought-after actors of your generation. The films Kalózok, Rosszfiúk, Jadviga párnája and Overnight foreshadowed a successful film career.

It was a fantastic experience to film and to get to know it, but everything that came with this fame did not interest me; I found it nauseating. I remember what kind of awful feeling it was that I could no longer travel on a normal bus, a tram or on the metro, because people would whisper or point at me. I felt my role as an observer was in danger. Well, that’s the kind of dumb kid I was, who set out to become the best actor that he could be, all the while not wanting to be famous…

You consider Gábor Székely as your first theatre master.

I was the co-head teacher in the directing class led by Gábor Székely, from which I learned immensely. Székely is unmatched in intensity, reliability and presence. The essence of his teaching method is that he inquires very well, is consistent-

Your community theatre “nursery” was the Katona József Theatre. Your graduation directional effort, Motel, created big waves in the profession, while the direction for Ledarálnakeltûntem received multiple awards throughout Europe.

The Katona has been very defining in my professional life. I can thank Gábor Zsámbéki and the success of Ledarálnakeltûntem for my international invitations. Creating my own troupe is something that I’d considered since my university years, but I did not yet have the necessary professional knowledge.

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Special instruments and works Baroque music in every genre Text: Szilvia Becze

Audiences who may not necessarily be classical music enthusiasts but are nonetheless open to it at a festival are more likely to come across a performance of baroque music than music from any other era. Baroque music’s construction, catchy melodies, festive intonation, impressive scales and unexpected tempo changes enchant its listeners.

Although first heard more than 400 years ago, this genre of music still has much to offer in today’s fast-paced world.

“In my opinion,” Varga continued, “a serious history and archaeology museum with a collection that is understandable aesthetically can legitimately host early music concerts. The idea is hardly new, for concerts held in museums is a worldwide trend that allows a museum to present itself in a different light.

Our emphasis will remain on exhibitions and conferences, but it is necessary for the building to occasionally become a concert hall. The National Museum is a historic building from the mid-19th century. The Grand Hall is truly amazing, but its beauty is barely noticeable most days since it is rarely illuminated in a way to reveal the richness of its frescos. In memory of the museum’s foundation by Ferenc Széchényi, at Christmas we hosted a concert and used enormous spotlights to illuminate the room. This allowed us to reveal the unbelievable richness If you have seen the films Dangerous Liaisons or Le roi danse, you can be certain that a jabot (zsabó in Hungarian) was an important accessory for the dress of highly ranked or elegant men. The decorative neck accessory was attached to a shirt’s collar in the 17th and 18th centuries, and bound together at the top with a decorated pin. Shirts with jabots can also be found among authentic Scottish Highlander dress, while from the 20th century women’s jabots decorated their blouses. Members of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, lawyers to the European Commission, as well as the Speaker of the British House of Commons all wear jabots. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States has a collection of jabots numbering in the dozens. Her favourite is a jabot from South Africa decorated with white pearls.

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of its colours and forms, which really show the room’s great atmosphere. I believe that baroque music is an exceptional paring to this milieu. The concert’s programme is entirely the work of the festival’s staff. I only asked for one thing, that it also include French Baroque, since that is not heard as frequently in Hungary as the Italian or German varieties”.

The Belgian La Cetra d’Orfeo ensemble will open the Zsabó Festival with an evening of French music. The group frequently collaborates with dancers, actors and puppeteers. According to them, not only should the era’s music be represented, but so should its literature, costumes, dances and everyday habits. The internationally renowned recorder and flute master Louis XIV in a painting from his youth

Painting of Claude Lefèbvre (1673)

The Hungarian National Museum and the Festetics Palace will provide a splendid backdrop to the Budapest Spring Festival’s baroque music performances known as the Zsabó Festival. The museum’s director Dr. Benedek Varga liked the idea immediately, and stated that although he is only an amateur musician, baroque music has become one of his passions.

“I do not really know the reason why, I just simply became interested in this period of music,” he said. “I felt it to be very different from other eras. To this day I cannot really explain why it left such a deep impression on me.”

cultur al quarter Anneke Boeke and the young tenor Dávid Szigetvári will appear as soloists with the Ensemble Cantilene. The group plays period instruments with contemporary sounds that they blend with modern musical expressions. Lucie Horsch, the young Dutch recorder virtuoso will be a guest of the Anima Musicae Chamber Orchestra, while the twins Gergely and Zsombor Tóth-Vajna will perform their Billentyûvarázs (“Key Magic”) historic instrument recital. The two young musicians have received widespread acclaim, and in addition to their concerts are also practicing doctors.

International stars will follow one another at the Liszt Academy of Music. On Easter Sunday one of the gems of Telemann’s late period, The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus, will be interpreted by the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra, conducted by György Vashegyi, while the second half of the programme will feature Bach’s Magnificat.

Although she studied piano and harpsichord, Emmanuelle Haïm later chose to conduct, and in 2000 she founded her own early music ensemble. Today Le Concert d’Astrée is one of the most sought-after early music formations. The group and two vocal soloists will perform Handel’s cantatas.

Photo: © La Cetra d'Orfeo

The events will be crowned by the Hungarian debut of a baroque opera in the Festival Theatre. Prior to this the premiere of Hasse’s Artaserse will take place in the Margravial Opera House of Bayreuth to celebrate its reopening. The beautiful theatre is one of the few surviving 18th century baroque opera houses, which has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage list since 2012.

Photo: © Hungarian National Museum

A commemoration for the anniversary of Marin Marais’s death will also be held. Marais is the definitive composer and player of the viola da gamba, and was one of the most respected artists in Louis XIV’s court. Rediscovered through the film Tous les Matins du Monde, Marais was a productive composer, expanding the viola da gamba repertoire by multiple volumes.

During the intermissions for the concerts in the National Museum, visitors can see the museum’s instrument collection and become acquainted with one of the era’s unique instruments, the dancing master’s kit violin.

The instrument is also known known as the pochette, the French word for a small pocket, from which the dancing master pulled this violin to aid in teaching dancing steps. Despite its small size it has a vibrant sound, as a result of which it became a favourite instrument for playing household music.

This wonderful instrument was purchased in 1928 from the noted composer László Lajtha, who for a while was an associate of the National Museum. The decorated musical instrument is shaped like a boat, with bone plates covering the wood, and with the bone plates on its fingerboard bearing carved landscapes. Its scroll is a woman’s head with her hair in a bun, the four strings can be tuned with the finely carved bone pegs, and the tailpiece was carved to resemble a bearded man’s head.

btf.hu The ensemble La Cetra d’Orfeo

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Photo: continentaĂŠgroup.hu

City Guide European Best Destinations has promoted European tourism and culture for nearly a decade, providing reliable information on where to travel and how to get there via train or plane, not to mention assistance in booking accommodation.

Each year the organisation conducts an international poll to reaffirm which cities should be included in their top 10 lists, and this time Budapest placed 8th, ahead of Lisbon, Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Vienna, Barcelona and London.

An important reason for the Hungarian capital’s popularity is the new hotels opening one after the other, and another is its restaurants that feature fine cuisine and seemingly the entire spectrum of wine. You can discover a few of these establishments yourself over the following pages.

The sgraffito-decorated ceiling above the main entrance to the Hotel Moments Budapest

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Customer satisfaction is the key indicator The new hotel from the Continental Group Text: Judit Várkonyi • Pictures: Continental Group

In early March the Hotel Clark, a member of the Continental Group, will open its doors at one of the most beautiful locations in Budapest at the base of Buda Castle by the Chain Bridge bridgehead. One of the group’s owners is Tamás Flesch, a defining personality in the domestic tourism sector and hotel industry, and vice president of the Hungarian Hotel & Restaurant Association (HHRA). He spoke with Budapest’s Finest about the current situation in the hotel industry and tourism, the activities of the association, and its future challenges.

The Hotel Clark on Clark Ádám Square

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Tamás Flesch is looking forward to a bright future for the new hotel. “The Clark has a fantastic location, it’s exciting inside and out, and is a unique and modern hotel. The hospitality is overseen by Hubert Hlatky-Schlichter, who has left his mark on the city and is committed to high quality. He’s also bringing international trends, since Beef Bar Budapest will add a unique splash of colour to the city, while the Leo Sky Bar on the rooftop will offer an unparalleled panorama. I’m really excited and fully believe the Clark to be destined for success.”

Although originally planning on a career in sports journalism, Flesch found employment at

Novotel after graduating high school and earned degrees in economics and hospitality while on the job. In 2010 he was a founding member of the Hungarian Incoming Professionals’ Association, and has been vice president of the HHRA since March, where he works on a voluntary basis. The organisation is the profession’s largest lobbying and advocacy group, and works towards outcomes on topics that are equally beneficial for all members. “It’s fortunate for a person to be able to work with different responsibilities throughout their day. I love being in direct personal contact with others, at the same time these responsibilities are also undeniably important to me, and

Photo: © Tamás Pál

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beyond my macro-level knowledge of my profession, I am able to participate as an owner or operator in major investments that also shape the city’s image.”

In terms of international guest nights, tourism is absolutely centred on Budapest. If we look at the industry itself, it is a fact that many regions of Hungary have noticeably improved in recent years. But we cannot ignore that Budapest is the country’s jewel in the crown: it is especially scenic, and is an important destination in the European and world tourism market. It is no accident that Budapest is the best-known city in the country, just as Paris is the most visited in France, despite the great number of breath-taking small cities around the country.

There have been a lot of improvements regarding infrastructure, cycle paths have been built, there are more and more things worth seeing, and even where there is nothing to see, tourists “only” come for the wellness facilities. Regarding the capital, many development opportunities remain. According to Flesch, in the upcoming period Budapest can come into its own as one of the world’s most exciting tourism capitals, since it possesses all of the necessary attributes. The most important responsibility here is to promote an upswing in commercial and conference tourism.

This is what the profession has lobbied in favour of for years, and not just the HHRA, but all other related organisations. The construction of a conference centre that meets 21st century demands

The view from a room in the Hotel Clark

The Hotel Moments Budapest is one of the crowning jewels of Andrássy Boulevard

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Various locations in the Hotel Moments Budapest

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would attract new visitors, and could significantly influence Budapest’s tourism potential. Not only from an economic perspective, such as an inclination to spend or tax income, but because it has been shown that businesspeople return as tourists in their free time. This multiplication effect could have a considerable impact on the economy.

How service fees are determined has completely changed. Marketing a hotel is now almost like the stock market, and this is the most difficult challenge for the profession. Sometimes the bands are adjusted daily for the various time periods. A bad decision here or there can result in serious losses, but with the right technology great profits can be achieved.

The proportion of people from all over the world is now balanced, and within this the largest group are naturally Europeans, but there are also lots of visitors from the United States, South America and Asia. The latter is the most exciting geographical region from the perspective of tourism, according to Flesch, for he expects an explosion in the number of visitors from there, which will significantly shape how the industry operates.

The company takes customer feedback very seriously, and according to the 2017 results from TripAdvisor, three of the top six hotels in Hungary are operated by Flesch’s company, the Continental Group. In the ranking Hotel Moments on Andrássy Avenue placed second, the Hotel Palazzo Zichy in the Palace District placed third, and Hotel Parlament placed sixth, while the Hotel Palazzo Zichy topped the list in the best service category. “This achievement, by an independent brand without the backing of a large chain, is, putting modesty aside, quite an achievement,” Flesch asserts. He is proud of his colleagues responsible for this success. He considers his colleagues in the management to be family, and would like to provide opportunities for the profession’s young talents, as dedication is the key ingredient and guarantees results over time: some arrived to the company as interns and now fill director positions. The Continental Group believes in teamwork and strives to reward its staff with both material and personal recognition.

The company also takes social responsibility seriously and provides assistance to ill and disadvantaged children. Flesch’s wife, Réka Patakfalvi founded the Csodapont Foundation, and they have undertaken this mission for years. In addition to their current successes, the company is developing dynamically, and in the near future they will open two important projects: following the Hotel Clark’s opening, in July the cosy D8 lifestyle hotel will open in Dorottya Street, while early next year the Four Elements Hotel will open on the Belgrád Embankment.

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Customer feedback has been the Continental Group’s best marketing tool for years. There are no tricks to this, since customer satisfaction is the key indicator in the industry. Today’s technology can transform a great advantage to a great disadvantage at any moment, since customer opinions, be they positive or negative, can be read online worldwide.

www.continentalgroup.hu

Unconventional interior architecture awaits guests inside the tower of the Hotel Parlament

The Hotel Palazzo Zichy was recognised in 2017 for its luxury and intimacy

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St. Andrea’s journey from Egerszalók to Budapest Eger wine and refined countryside cuisine Text: Júlia Csikós • Photo: standrea.com

The St. Andrea Winery in Egerszalók is considered one of the finest wineries in Hungary by both wine lovers and the profession alike. Their story began in 1999, when Dr. György Lôrincz founded the small St. Andrea family winery in Egerszalók in Northern Hungary. The company was named after his wife Andrea, with whom he has raised four children. Today the name St. Andrea stands for exceptional quality, as their bottles can be found on the shelves of wine shops in numerous European and Asian countries.

Lôrincz is not only a winemaker, but also a theologian: his special relationship with God appears on his wine labels and in the affectionate humility with which he speaks of his wines: “Love drives and sustains the world: I really love my profession, which is an important reason why our wines are able to provide joy.”

St. Andrea wines can be found in many Budapest stores and wine bars. The winery’s first Budapest establishment, the St. Andrea Wine & Gourmet Bar, opened in the Eiffel Palace’s ground floor in the spring of 2015 according to the family’s own design concept. “One must pair wine with food to truly enjoy the experience. In Hungary international quality gas50

tronomy and consumers interested in it are overwhelmingly concentrated in Budapest, which is why we decided to open our establishment there.” Marketing Director Klára Holló said of the opening: “We wanted to bring a small part of Egerszalók into the heart of Budapest. The past three years have seen an enormous amount of work, but it was worth it, since our team is wonderful, and each day we develop and improve.” At its launch the restaurant styled itself as an elegant wine bar.

The original concept was an easy-going and relaxed but stylish place where people could drop in after work for a glass of wine and enjoy conversation with their colleagues or friends.

This idea did not last long, however, since guests (also) came to eat, and after a few weeks it grew apparent that Chef Ádám

Cit y Guide Barna’s culinary masterpieces outgrew the wine bar’s framework. Today the St. Andrea Wine & Gourmet Bar is a unique Hungarian fine dining restaurant, which made the Dining Guide’s TOP10 list in 2017, and is also recommended by the Michelin Guide. “’Hungarian flavours, open to the world’ is not only a great slogan, but our reality,” Chef Ádám Barna says, who only uses ingredients from the Carpathian Basin when possible, so that he can serve the true flavours of the region. “Gulyás soup has its place on the menu, as do beef stew, crepes and curd cheese dumplings. Of course, they are refined and prepared with the greatest attention to detail.” The excellent harmony between the meals and wines is naturally the result of teamwork. There is a new menu every two or three months, and the wine pairThe selection of wines is set for thematic wine dinners, as the chef creates the courses according to the wines. On one occasion, for an event hosted by a perfumery, the chef and sommelier planned the menu based on aromas. Which is the wine that wine-loving guests to Hungary absolutely must taste?

“The Hangács Bikavér (bull’s blood), for example, which is perhaps the winery’s Bikavér that is most typical of Eger, has flavours that present its rustic growing area, and is complex”, Fogarasi-Frank said.

Lôrincz deliberately decided to preserve the iconic name, and set communicating its reputation as his goal. “The Bikavér’s reputation is revealed by the fact that this is almost the only wine that comes to mind from times long past. This is a difficult inheritance for us. I would like great wines to come from Eger, since without tradition everything loses its authenticity, which is why we produce Bikavér wines. I consider this wine to be delicious, exciting, energetic and at once elegant, all the while providing a great experience.”

ings are made in close collaboration with sommelier János Fogarasi-Frank.

“Guests can taste St. Andrea wines here that are not sold commercially. For each good variety we always set aside a few cases, so that we can take them out for special occasions later,” Fogarasi-Frank reveals. Communication is constant with the winery, as work proceeds in the vineyards according to guest tastes as well as the character of the degustation menu.

This year the Kadarka is highly anticipated, which is always a popular choice due to its fresh and playful fruitiness, splendidly complementing one of the chef’s favourite meals, lecsó (Hungarian ratatouille). “I can characterise our offerings this spring with three words: lightness, elegance and harmony, which come through in both the food and the wine. In March as everything becomes green again the menu will too,” Barna adds. “We’re really awaiting the first bear leek, the chervils, and spring vegetables, which excellently complement the rabbit or guinea fowl.”

According to Fogarasi-Frank the Kadarka can be a unique choice, since at one time this historical grape variety covered Eger’s hills, before grape phylloxera nearly wiped it out at the end of the 19th century. Fogarasi-Frank recommends the white Egri Csillag as a pair to the Bikavér, which similarly to the red is a cuvee made primarily from Carpathian Basin varieties. The variety was protected eight years ago by the Eger wine community.

In June 2017 St. Andrea’s Budapest footprint expanded with a new bastion at Vörösmarty Square, as the St. Andrea Wine & Sky Bar opened, offering visitors a glimpse into the most refined layers of gourmet cocktail culture. “Following a good meal, guests frequently have no desire to immediately head home and would prefer to stay out for a few more drinks,” Klára Holló stated. “The St. Andrea assortment of wines can be sampled all year round at the Sky Bar, and guests can also sample tasty bites from Ádám Barna’s dishes while overlooking one of the best panoramas of the city.”

St. Andrea Winery (Egerszalók): https://standrea.com/en/st-andrea/ St. Andrea Wine & Gourmet Bar (Budapest): http://standreaborbar.hu St. Andrea Wine & Sky Bar (Budapest): https://standreaskybar.hu/

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The 19 century on your plate th

the Kéhli Restaurant in Óbuda Text: Szonja Somogyi • Photos: reisewege-ungarn.de

Building on family traditions and continuing with them, the Kéhli Restaurant in Óbuda is an example of living history. The restaurant is the result of the persistence and dedication of two families spanning generations that to this day resist modern trends, thereby preserving Hungarian and Danube Swabian traditions in the kitchen. The owners await regular guests and tourists alike with the genuine hospitality typical of the family-run restaurants located in the Krúdy District.

The Danube Swabian Kéhli family opened their small restaurant in 1899, although they were originally occupied with viticulture and wine making.

The current restaurant was the family home, which was also where they processed the grapes.

The press house is located in the garden, and they stored their wines in the two cellars, while the restaurant’s other rooms were living quarters, Gergely Cecei, one of the restaurant’s owners told Budapest’s Finest.

When the grape phylloxera blight that wiped out the vineyards of the Buda Hills took away the family’s primary source of income, the matriarch of the family Mama Kéhli, being an intelligent 52

Danube Swabian lady, decided to focus things towards hospitality. Starting with cold dishes, over time the restaurant included warm meals and an increasing variety of options on the menu, Cecei continued.

Buda hospitality enjoyed its heyday in the 1930s, at which time it was quite fashionable to go to Óbuda for entertainment, to eat in restaurants or play cards. Figures from the creative world soon found themselves visiting the Kéhli family’s establishment, among them one of its most iconic figures, the writer Gyula Krúdy, as did the author Sándor Márai, who has since become known in the English-speaking world, as well as many con-

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temporary actors. This string of successes came to a halt with the Second World War, when the restaurant was nationalised.

Cecei’s father began working in the restaurant after this, and fell in love with the place, taking out a loan following the system change to purchase the renovated Kéhli restaurant. “My father, Tibor Cecei Horváth, similarly to Krúdy, loved wine, women, wrote poetry, identified with the intellect of the legends and the great writers’ heritage. He absolutely represented the elements of Hungarian and Danube Swabian cuisines. No matter what types of trends came and went, he stood by tradition.”

And what typifies traditional Hungarian cuisine?

Perhaps every “real” tourist visiting Budapest knows the buzzwords: meat with meat, lots and lots of paprika, onions, tomatoes, spices, and the unforgettable gulyás soup and individual delicacies. Kéhli’s chef for more than 30 years has been Eduárd B. Gaál, who has strictly stood by the methods that have worked for centuries. “No matter where the wind blows from, I won’t prepare stew with olive oil; I’ll stick to bacon,” Cecei quotes his chef.

Time and regular customers who have returned for decades reaffirm this devotion to tradition.

The desire for classic Hungarian dishes remains strong, since finding authentic flavours is not so easy today in Budapest, for new wave, modern and international cuisines can be found in greater numbers.

The owner emphasised that in addition to authentic flavours they do not forget about entertainment, therefore Gypsy musicians ensure a pleasant atmosphere in the restaurant’s rooms and garden every day. What makes the Kéhli stand out from other Hungarian restaurants is its loyal regular guest community.

It goes without saying that the technology developed over the years has not been rejected simply for the sake of authenticity: modern kitchen technological methods also receive a role in food preparation, and the majority of the ingredients, meats and vegetables are sourced from sustainable growers.

And what kind of dishes can a visitor expect?

Nothing is left to the imagination, for the meat in the broth is not just symbolic, the stuffed cabbage is not a small ball, and the red wine beef cheek stew served with potato dumplings with ewe’s cheese (sztrapacska) requires real devotion from the guest. For tourists it must be a real rarity that they can scoop the marrow from the bone themselves when they order the “hot pot” soup.

But vegetarians will also find something for themselves this spring, as the seasonal menu will feature fresh garden vegetables in the typical Hungarian vegetable stews (fôzelék) as well as stuffed paprika and asparagus.

One thing is for certain: if not a desire for salon beuschel, then an interest in discovering 19th century Hungary and its atmosphere is reason aplenty to visit this 120-year-old restaurant.

kehli.hu

The catfish paprikás with curd cheese noodles is a classic and traditional meal, while spicy green peppers and Erős Pista spicy pepper paste are necessary condiments to accompany soups

Chequered tablecloths and soda bottles are characteristic of Óbuda’s restaurants

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Óbuda’s Stelázsi

Wine, rapture and Hungarian bistro bites Text: Szonja Somogyi • photos: PlurArt Media

Traditional Hungarian flavours in a laid-back bistro format, craft wine offerings and a family atmosphere: all of this can be found in one location at the Stelázsi Café, Restaurant and Wine Bar, in one of the capital’s districts dotted with centuries of memories.

But let’s start with a language lesson. The Hungarian word stelázsi originated from the German Stellage, which refers to a rack used in a pantry or kitchen. In 18th to 20th century kitchens and pantries these racks held the cooking ingredients, accessories, plates, preserve jars, lard and flour. This is where our grandmothers and great-grandmothers turned to when they wanted to put food on the table, and it is also where the Stelázsi staff go when they wish to create a homely atmosphere.

“Fundamentally we wished to create a family atmosphere, which is created equally by the food, presentation and the team’s work,” Iván Racsek, the restaurant’s director told Budapest’s Finest. “The goal was that whoever came in here could relax and sit back in a corner. That’s what I told the waitstaff as well: work as if you were serving your friends or family at home, of course within certain limits.

“I think this works. Today’s trendy industrial style appears unfinished, as if it’s waiting for something,” he added. Although the sense of waiting is there at Stelázsi, it is as though the mem54

ories of the past are waiting to once again be put to use. On the wall you can see turn-of-the-century recipes, and the bottles lined up on the sideboard all wait for the homeowner to run up from the kitchen to grab something necessary for the lunch that’s being cooked. Nonetheless the atmosphere is not old-fashioned, for cleanliness and freshness typify a style that blends the traditional with the modern.

This duality makes its presence known in the dishes as well.

The restaurant’s team primarily uses seasonal ingredients sourced from Hungary and changes the menu in accordance with customer demands. The menu items have for the most part remained unchanged since Stelázsi’s 2014 opening, with only smaller modifications made during the quarterly “tests”, so permanent fixtures include the potato dumplings with ewe’s cheese and bacon (sztrapacska), homemade beef broth with liver dumplings, tenderloin steak and duck breast paprikás stuffed with forest mushrooms. Typically the traditional flavours are presented in a lighter or more modern fashion. The popular gulyás soup is made

Cit y Guide in a Hungarian hotpot style with pork cheek, while the foie gras is served with peasant ham, mashed potatoes and grilled mango. Vegetarians are not short for options either, as they can try lecsó (Hungarian ratatouille) with courgettes and aubergine, or the vegetable cavalcade cooked on an iron plate.

In addition to the regular selection, the chef’s special changes daily and the lunch menu weekly. The latter is offered on weekdays from noon to 3 pm and is more than what people usually

receive elsewhere. Those arriving for lunch can choose from eight main dishes of which only three are permanent, while the rest use the freshest ingredients and seasonal sides that frequently change. These two- or three- course meals feature vegetable stews, broth soups, onion cream soups, as well as traditional Gypsy roast and toasted duck liver with lecsó. Since everything is freshly prepared at Stelázsi, guests should not come expecting to eat quickly between meetings.

But wine also receives special emphasis at Stelázsi. The restaurant only offers craft wines, or in other words only those that do not include additives during their preparation, Iván Racsek stresses. Wines by Gyula Kúcs from the Villány wine region are highlighted on the restaurant’s wine list.

This dedication to quality wine manifests itself not only via the wine list, but also through various programmes. Stelázsi hosts wine evenings, wine clubs and “wine reception hours” where guests can meet a winemaker and his/her products. Those who wish to drink their wine paired with food should order the wine dinner: a four or five course meal accompanied by dishes recommended by the relevant winemaker.

Those looking for a more relaxing time out are certain to find what they are looking for as well, since Stelázsi occasionally organises dinner theatre performances, and can also provide performances in English upon request. During such evenings a troupe filters in – sometimes unnoticed – among the group of 45-50 people seated on the mezzanine, and after a short introductory talk the adventure begins. A great dinner menu can be enjoyed throughout the performance, so both your taste buds and mind will be left stimulated. stelazsietterem.hu

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Stuffed cabbage, catfish paprikás, cottage cheese pasta and the ubiquitous gulyás soup. But we also cannot go without trying Esterházy cake, crackling, a good cup of black coffee, or a wine spritzer in one of Budapest’s iconic ruin pubs. If we visit the Hungarian capital, the best thing we can do is place our trust in the locals.

Culinary Tours in Budapest Text: Júlia Csikós • Pictures: Taste Hungary Budapest has countless opportunities for tasting Hungarian dishes with each better than the one before, for downtown is filled with exciting bars and restaurants. But if a visitor wishes to indulge more than their appetite and is just as interested in the backgrounds, context and stories behind them, then it is absolutely worth trying out one (or more) of Budapest’s food walks during a two or three day stay. This personal touch is increasingly part of tourism in Budapest, since they blend

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city walks peppered with historical and cultural information with an introduction to Hungarian cuisine and a wide sampling of tasty treats.

Budapest’s Finest tried three tours and we will certainly want to go on more in the future!

We recommend Taste Hungary’s Culinary Walk as a starting point, since the four-hour tour provides a comprehensive overview for those new to Hungarian cuisine. The walks take place each day of the week and ensure a personalised and relaxed atmosphere by limiting groups to six people. The first stop is one of Europe’s largest covered markets, the Great Market Hall at Fôvám Square, where we can taste Unicum, widely considered a highlight of the Hungarian market’s “menu”, alongside lángos (fried bread), sausages, salamis and various pickled vegetables. We continue with a festive fried sausage lunch prepared by an old-fashioned butcher’s, from where our path leads to one of Budapest’s most luxurious confectioneries. Following this substantial cake tasting it is difficult to believe that there might still be any room in our stomachs, but the wine and cheese tasting only commences after. The location for this last stop is the Tasting Table wine bar, which

Cit y Guide is a sister enterprise to the tour company owned by the Hungarian-American couple Carolyn and Gábor Bánfalvi. Interestingly, in 2008 they were the first in Hungary to launch a company based on the then nascent genre of gastro tours, and ever since Taste Hungary has the most diverse tours for Hungarian wine and cuisine.

Fortunately, a plethora of options await those looking for a more unique or specific slice of the capital’s culinary life. For coffee lovers we recommend the third-wave specialised Crop to Cup coffee tour led by Coffee Genius. The company was founded in 2016 by a young Hungarian-American couple Andrea Fazekas and Tom Szélpál. Coffee Genius primarily focuses on coffee catering, teaching and edutainment, strictly limited to speciality coffee. Through their tours we receive deep and comprehensive insight into the world of coffee trends sweeping through Budapest. Andi is an excellent storyteller, including a lot of curiosities and information as she introduces one coffee type after another. During our three hours together we visited four locations, departing from downtown Pest to Buda via a short tram ride, meaning that we also manage to get in some sightseeing along the way. Over the course of the morning we sampled six types of caffeinated beverages, not all of which were coffee, since at the start we became acquainted with Cascara, which is a unique drink prepared from the peel and berries of the coffee fruit. Andi takes us on a journey to the pinnacle of filtered and Turkish coffees, so that the morning ends with a classic, perfectly prepared espresso.

Naturally, evening explorers are not without their own tour either: the Ruins and Bars tour hosted by Budapest Urban Walks was launched expressly with these people in mind. The company was founded by four young tour guides in 2016, who imaged a company that would provide highly personalised tours built on actual experiences with a personal touch. The three-hour tours that canvas the ruin pubs of District VII obviously include the famous tourist magnets located in Kazinczy Street. However, the tour leader (and one of the owners) Ferenc Samu prefers to take us instead to atmospheric and hidden small pubs visited by locals. We try craft beers, wine spritzers and pálinka or Unicum, but everyone can sample whatever they want. Our second stop warmed us up with a fresh hot gulyás soup and lecsó (Hungarian ratatouille), as we carried on a deep conversation over a drink or two, barely noticing how much Ferenc had managed to tell us of Budapest’s history and the residents who live here, through discussing the streets, buildings

and the furnishings of the ruin pubs. Feeling delightful after a few drinks, we said goodbye with the belief that we had just experienced an ideal combination of a friendly visit to the pub with a cultural trip.

Taste Hungary - Culinary Walk: tastehungary. com/tour/culinary-walk/ Coffee Genius – Crop2Cup: www.coffeegenius.hu Budapest Urban Walks - Ruins and Bars: budapesturbanwalks.hu/ruins-and-bars/

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European Easter markets From Budapest to Barcelona

BUDAPEST

Photo: David Nyitrai

This year the bustling atmosphere that welcomes spring at Budapest’s Vörösmarty Square will set a new record, as the handicraft pavilions with their Easter gifts will first open on 23 March and will remain open until 22 April. Among the selection one can find quality hand crafted, traditional and reimagined folk art objects, as well as contemporary designs.

Culture and cuisine blend excitingly together at the Easter Fair. Keeping with Easter tradition, the fair’s culinary masters

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will offer Lenten dishes of lamb, eggs and ham, to go alongside the numerous opportunities for tasting wine, pálinka or craft beer, not to mention the preparation of Easter punch. Visitors can become acquainted with seemingly the entire selection of food and drink curiosities available from the Carpathian Basin. During the fair’s last week and in connection with the Budapest’s Spring Festival’s central theme, which is the works of Ferenc Liszt, there will be special programmes to honour the world famous composer’s memory through the introduction of his era, cuisine and drinks, and the sounds of his music.

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The most typical Easter markets, just like the Christmas variety, are found primarily in German-speaking areas. The Austrian capital Vienna awaits visitors in late March and early April with traditional Easter decorations, artistically decorated eggs, marzipan bunny-preparation workshops and culinary delights. According to the Viennese, spring begins when the Schönbrunn Easter Market (Ostermarkt) opens in the Ehrenhof, the ceremonial courtyard before the palace. Sixty vendors offer their wares from 17 March to Easter Monday.

One of Europe’s largest mounds of Easter eggs, consisting of approximately 40,000 eggs, rises at the Altwiener Ostermarkt in the old town’s Freyung. (ostermarkt.co.at) At Graz’s Franziskanerplatz Easter Fair, Styrian hams, sausages and meat products can be purchased direct from the producers. As a part of the Salzburg Easter Festival (24 March – 2 April) guests can sample various holiday sweets on the last weekends of Lent (17-18 March, 24-25 March).

Germany

Photo: Marko Kubitz

In Berlin this year the Easter school break and vacations will be held from 26 March – 6 April, and the Easter fairs will also reflect this. At the Galeria Kaufhof’s market (Alexanderplatz) spring motifs will adorn the stands, handicraft workshops, the petting zoo, wine bars, and a concert stage with a beer garden, as well as other assorted displays that await guests. The Easter egg house contains the world’s largest collection of hand decorated eggs, totalling 6,000. Next to the petting zoo at the Breitscheidplatz a giant Easter garden and flower path with

Photo: tensipecs.hu

AUSTRIA

12 two-metre tall eggs and a pre-war children’s carousel await guests as a part of the Ostermarkt in der City West. Guests will be greeted with a chocolate egg by the human-sized “Mr. Bunny”.

The Dresdner Ostern is considered Saxony’s most floral family market with its orchid exhibition. Internationally renowned flower-tying masters make bouquets from the fresh flowers. (dresdner-ostern.de) In Frankfurt the Easter Egg Markt (3-4 March) will be organised in the Dominican Cloister, where gilded, etched and painted eggs can be purchased for home decorations.

Painting Easter eggs is popular in Vienna, and the photograph above shows two giant Easter eggs in the courtyard of Schönbrunn Palace

The orchid display in Dresden

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LONDON

In Paris in Montmartre and at the foot of the Eiffel Tower folk festivities – according to French custom – are always presented with some sort of culinary highlight: after children aged 3-10 collect the 20,000 Easter eggs hidden on the Field of Mars (with their parents’ help), the hunt ends with a chocolate tasting.

Spain

Trumpet calls, drum rolls, hundreds of praying believers and celebrants in vibrant costumes show that it is Holy Week in Madrid. In Barcelona the Easter period has a secular characteristic, as the windows of bakeries and sweets shops are filled with all types of chocolate figures.

Photo: © MashaKubyshina

Paris

Photo: © todolist.org.uk

Photo: © SPF_J F Leray

It is worth taking a look around from Good Friday to Easter Monday at London’s Old Spitalfields Market (and at the London Brewers’ Market behind it), as well as at the Greenwich Market and at Venn Street Market. On 30 March Trafalgar Square becomes a natural arena as Christ’s suffering is depicted in a passion play performed by 100 enthusiastic amateur actors.

The Netherlands

Photo: © Petr Kratochvil

In the Netherlands the park in Haarlem’s Keukenhof palace is decorated with an ocean of flowers and the Easter Bunny makes daily appearances to the delight of children. Europe’s largest and most famous Tulip Festival commences in Amsterdam on Holy Saturday, 31 March, and lasts for a month.

ROME The most traditional Easter destination is naturally Rome. At this time not only is Pope Francis’s Good Friday procession and Saint Peter’s Square a necessary destination, but it is also worth going for a stroll on the 400-year-old Campo de’ Fiori, 60

which pulsates night and day, where tourists can discover the most authentic Italian flavours. Sightseeing on the Porta Portes is a must do on Easter Sunday. The “vintage paradise” for young and trendy city dwellers each spring is the La Soffitta Sotto I Portici market adjacent to Augustus’s mausoleum.

Photo: © budapestinfo.hu

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Prague, bratislava, warsaw

Photo: © www.enjoyourholiday.com

The Easter markets at Old Town and Wenceslas Squares in Prague are open daily from 17 March to 8 April. In the Old Town of Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital, a diverse assortment of decorative or functioning objects are available. On the Friday before Palm Sunday (23 March) the Easter Market opens at Warsaw’s New Town Market Place, which runs until 2 April. In addition to intricately decorated eggs, weaved baskets and embroidered handkerchiefs, they also sell edible Easter lamb figures made from sugar.

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An ice age this spring A World Championship in Budapest Text: Tibor Pietsch

Photo: © jegkorongszovetseg.hu

We have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that all passes and nearly all of the tickets have been sold for the Hungarian team’s games during the Ice Hockey World Championship Division I A tournament held from 22-28 April. The bad news is the same, since those who wanted to cheer the Hungarian team on at the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena and have yet to buy their tickets might not be able to at all.

We could say that hockey fever has broken out in Budapest, but that would not exactly be true. First of all, the reason why is because it did not happen now, but many years earlier. Those who remain sceptical should go online and find the video “Szapporói csoda 2008”, although this is just one of the many that prove what hockey means for Hungary. If a person immerses themselves into the world of hockey, they can experience its pains and joys. It takes years or even decades for someone to truly become a good hockey player. This holds especially true for Hungary, where originally there wasn’t even a covered arena to serve this purpose.

The “Heroes of Sapporo” lifted the Hungarian national team to the highest A group in 2008 after 72 years. If one of them were to describe to today’s children how they passed the puck the latter might not even believe them.

Named after the internationally famous boxer László Papp, Budapest’s multi-function sports arena has seen appearances by many international stars over the decades, 62

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For poorer but richer

Photo: © wikipedia

The ice situation is good. In fact, it keeps getting better. Today, from the Jégpalotá (Ice Palace) in District IV to the facilities at Marczibányi Square in Buda, the Tüskecsarnok and the City Park Ice Rink including the Pesterzsébet Jégcsarnok, there are now numerous places to ice skate or play ice hockey in Budapest. This will expand further, if not in a year or two, then for certain in three or four at the latest, for there are plans to erect an ice arena suitable for all purposes with a capacity of 6,000 on the Kisstadion’s site. With the demolition of the Kisstadion, which has witnessed scores of epic competitions, Hungarian hockey may become worse off in the interim, but it’s worth noting that a jewellery box will be built to replace it. The new facility will primarily serve as a base for ice hockey, but it will also warmly welcome everyone else from the other ice sports. There also will not be any reason to complain of a lack of space, since two practice rinks will also be built in addition to the “centre” rink. Conservative estimates see it opening in 2022 and optimistic ones in 2021. Better late than never, but let’s not kid ourselves, the sooner the better…

from Placido Domingo to the Royal Spanish Riding School.

And of course, there are guests who frequently return, such as the members of the Hungarian national hockey team. Every year the team takes the ice at the arena, and the last time they were the hosts of the Division I A world championships was five years ago, when the team just missed out on promotion behind Kazakhstan and Italy. They have another opportunity this time. Led by the Finn Jarmo Tolvanen, the Hungarian team has their work cut out for them if they want to finish in the top two spots that will see them promoted to competing against the best. The team did, however, win its first battle last May, when the International Ice Hockey Federation decided that Budapest would get to host a few nights of hockey magic.

The rivalry with Poland extends off the ice as well, since Poland hosted the games in 2015 and 2016, and will be on the ice this time too, which is great for everyone except perhaps the Hungarians, who will face off against their skilled rivals once more. But this also extends to the Hungarian fans who have earned a reputation as some of the best in the world, since the Polish team is expected to bring a large contingent of their own fans. We can also prepare ourselves for the arrival of the English fans too. A celebration is in the making in Budapest, and it will be quite a show. Now if only we could find some more tickets… jegkorongszovetseg.hu

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Programme

corner Still life

contemporary Hungarian photography 6 April 2018, 6 pm,

Budapest Spring Festival Kiscelli Museum

A special part of the Budapest Photo Festival will be a group exhibition by contemporary Hungarian photographers at the Kiscelli Museum. The new works by these artists with diverse styles, thought processes and ages reveal that the still life genre is alive and well, and continues to develop in the present. This genre has evolved from the back of panel paintings to status symbols of the citizenry and an autonomous field of art in its own right. The collection’s defining momentum is contemporary photographers’ newfound sensitivity toward nature. The photographers sometimes express a minutely detailed approach, while at other times an approach that simplifies the scenery. In addition to the lifelike and detailed depictions of reality, the artists also added a hidden layer to their compositions through symbols and symbolic references. The expressions dead nature (natura morta) or motionless life mirror the various approaches to the wide understanding of what can be considered a still life, all of which are relevant for this exhibition. The photographers use classical still life iconography and entirely novel interpretations to arrive at the genre’s ever-widening boundaries. (Open until 24 June).

Roger Waters: Us + Them

Pink Floyd’s creative genius in Budapest 2 May 2018, 8 pm László Papp Budapest Sports Arena Roger Waters came to prominence in the late 1960s as a founding member of the legendary rock band Pink Floyd. Waters was the primary lyricist, composer, and together with David Gilmour, vocalist for the progressive and psychedelic rock pioneers, before leaving the band in 1985 and embarking on a solo career.

This new tour, named after the song “Us + Them” from Pink Floyd’s most successful album Dark Side of the Moon, features selections spanning Waters’ ground-breaking career, including songs from Pink Floyd’s biggest albums (Wish You Were Here, The Wall, Animals, Dark Side of The Moon) as well as compositions from his new solo album Is This the Life We Really Want? This is the fourth visit to Budapest by Waters, who turns 76 this year, and according to him the Us + Them tour will be his most visually stunning. Us + Them is his first European tour since the hugely successful The Wall Live tour, which was attended by more than 4 million fans across 219 concerts.

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11:21 Translation Zoltán Csipke

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