Budapest's Finest Autumn 2018 ENG

THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS REOPENS

CAFe BUDAPEST – A CAVALCADE OF GENRES

AUTUMN | 2018

THE GATEWAY TO BUDAPEST AND BEYOND

UPCYCLED LUXURY EYEWEAR

THE FIVE STAR CITY GUIDE

FREE PUBLIC ATION

AT BUDAPEST’S GATE: ETYEK

Photo: © Csibi Szilvia

Photo: © Oliver Hargitay

INTRODUCTION

DEAR READERS, To this day Budapest remains a hidden treasure within Europe in many respects. Those visiting for the first time from anywhere in the world, seemingly without exception, sum up their experience of the city by saying that they could not have imagined how beautiful it is. Budapest truly is one of, if not the most beautiful European capital owing to its natural attributes, with the Danube as its “high street”, forest-covered hills, accessible karst caves and unparalleled healing springs, all of which blend with 2,000 years of an especially rich history, a built heritage and the buzz of a thriving big city. Few know that in addition to London and Athens, Budapest is the only current European capital where the seat of a province belonging to the Roman empire was once located, the remains of which can be visited today.

Among the historical eras that the city has seen, what most defined the city’s current appearance is the period following the Great Compromise of 1867, after which Budapest competed with Vienna as the co-capital of the AustroHungarian Empire. Budapest was Europe’s most dynamically developing city during this period, which in 30 years saw its population increase fivefold as it became one of the grandest metropolises on the continent. During this time the second underground railway in the world after London was built, as was the largest parliament building and synagogue in Europe.

One of the treasures from this golden age is the Museum of Fine Arts’ collection, the richest in the region between Vienna and St. Petersburg, which will once again be open to the public on 31 October following three years of comprehensive reconstruction works. I invite you to pay us a visit, for the renovated building awaits with numerous surprises for old and new visitors alike!

László Baán The Museum of Fine Arts Budapest Director

DEAR GUESTS, International visitors to Budapest for World Tourism Day are most likely to arrive via Ferenc Liszt International Airport. I am certain that they will find it a worthy reception, as the airport and its new developments will be showcased on the following pages.

It is an honour and also an immense recognition for the Hungarian tourism industry that we can celebrate World Tourism Day together with representatives from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. The national tourism sector and the Budapest Festival and Tourism Centre have worked hard so that the UNWTO would select Hungary’s capital this year as the privileged location from which to celebrate the occasion.

In addition to celebrations, on 27 September participants at the summit will discuss important current issues and deliberate on topics such as digitalisation and sustainable tourism. These two subjects are important elements in our tourism strategy, as is being aware of the challenges that the following decades will present.

Innovation, digital platforms, artificial intelligence and new technologies also assist the tourism industry. In addition to proven applications, one of the key factors for sustainable tourism is the utilisation of relevant developments in the field. How can we direct guests from overcrowded city centres to treasured but less known destinations? Numerous useful and swift solutions can only be harnessed through the utilisation of technology. Cities that use and stay up to date with technological developments can provide reliable and independently verifiable tourist information to visitors expecting high quality services. Tradition and innovation work together as a good foundation for preserving values.

As UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “Harnessing innovation and digital advances provides tourism with opportunities to improve inclusiveness, local community empowerment and efficient resource management, amongst other objectives within the wider sustainable development agenda”.

Teodóra Bán Budapest Festival and Tourism Centre Director 1

2018 | Autumn

CONTENT

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At Budapest’s Gate: Etyek

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The 2018 CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival

A new downtown hotel: The Hotel Meininger Budapest 2

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A key player in successful tourism

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At Budapest’s Gate: Etyek

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The Museum of Fine Arts

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Cultural quarter

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Preserving heritage over generations 16

Back into an international context 26

The Museum of Fine Arts reopens

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BUD: the gateway to the world

The School of London The Trafó turns 20 The Issue – a catwalk concert Faust 1&2 Quatuor Diotima Katona Twins: Fifty-fifty From the edge of Europe Calling emotions into battle Painting with Iceland’s melodies Consistency in transformation Maynard Ferguson Dean Brown: ROLAJAFUFU

City Guide

32 34 35 37 38 40 42 43 44 45 46 47

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Meininger Hotel Budapest 50 The Failed Housewives 53 Tasting and appreciating tea 56 Upcycled luxury eyewear 58 From two wheels to four 61 Programme corner 62 Cover photo: The structure of the Sky Court at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport (Photo: © Eszter Gordon)

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

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Ferenc Liszt International Airport

The gateway to the world A renovated runway with a state-of-the-art navigational system at its end, and a new 220-metre-long three-level pier capable of receiving wide-body aircraft with 10 new airbridges. The construction of the Cargo City facility has begun and plans for a new parking structure in front of Terminals 2A and 2B are in the works, as Ferenc Liszt International Airport continues to expand this summer. Budapest’s international airport has a 75-year history that has seen continuous and dynamic developments.

With its multi-faceted services, it is a passenger and logistics centre not only for the capital and Hungary, but is also one of the most important in the region.

The decision regarding a possible Terminal 3 will be made soon, and by 2020 the largescale development programme should be completed.

The Sky Court transit area located between Terminals 2A and 2B

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A KEY PLAYER IN SUCCESSFUL TOURISM Enjoying competition and challenges Text: András Oláh

Photo: Eszter Gordon

Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport won Skytrax’s World Airport Award as the best airport in Eastern Europe for the fifth time earlier this year. This is the first time in the poll’s history that the same airport in a given region has won the award five years in a row.

Skytrax is an authoritative air travel consulting company based in London, that surveyed tens of thousands of travellers anonymously to assemble regional and world lists. As airport spokesman Mihály Hardy observed: “We love competition, and it is primarily through the quality of our services that we wish to show that Budapest is capable of more!”

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Photo: iho.hu

FERENC L ISZ T INTERNATIONAL AIRP ORT

The French aviation pioneer Louis Blériot held a highly successful air performance in front of 200,000 spectators on 17 October 1909 at the Kispest military practice grounds. This was the first time that a plane took to the air in the skies above Hungary. With this show, the first pilot to fly over the English Channel turned the

Hungarians into avid aviation fans. Merely a year later, János Adorján took to the skies with the first domestically built aircraft.

The renewed and increasingly elegant villa quarter in Mátyásföld has a street named after Aladár Zsélyi. In 1912 Zsélyi, together with Tibor Melczer, designed an aircraft suitable for transporting 34 passengers. Mátyásföld was also where the first airfield in Budapest for Hungarian civil aviation opened in 1916, which at the time was on Photo: BUD.hu

THE HISTORY OF HUNGARIAN AVIATION, IN A NUTSHELL

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Photo: BUD.hu

the eastern border of the capital. With the signs of the Second World War approaching, its responsibilities where shifted to the Budaörs Airport just to the west of the city.

Today Budaörs serves light aircraft, hang gliders and helicopters. Although it met aviation requirements in the first half of the 20th century, its location did not provide it with opportunities for expansion. Consequently, not long after it opened, the search for a location to build a new airport commenced. The Ferihegy area southeast of Budapest at the borders of Pestszentlôrinc, Rákoshegy and Vecsés was found to be suitable for this purpose in 1938.

The expressway leading to the airport, which was originally intended to serve civilian, military and sporting purposes, was built during World War II. Construction on today’s Terminal 1 also commenced at this time. Regular flights had barely begun in 1943 when a year later aerial bombing and the siege of Budapest saw the structure severely damaged. The airport was rebuilt strictly for civilian purposes and ceremoniously opened in 1950.

The airport was at first operated by the Hungarian-Soviet Civil Aviation Co. Ltd., which had many of its activities absorbed by the nation8

al airline that was formed in 1954 and known as Magyar Légiforgalmi Vállalat, or Malév. Originally only intended for internal flights or to the capitals of other socialist countries behind the Iron Curtain (such as Prague, Bucharest, Warsaw and Sofia), the airline launched its first flight to the West in 1956 to Vienna. The first western airline to launch a flight to Budapest was KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in 1957.

NEW CHALLENGES AND A NEW NAME

With the expansion of flight directions, traffic increased considerably, so that by 1974 the airport counted one million passengers. This made further development of the infrastructure necessary.

The air traffic control tower was renovated in the 1970s and 80s, and construction of the second runway began. The first significant step was taken in 1983 when construction began on Terminal 2 (today 2A), which is 24,000 square metres in size and opened two years later. The end of communism gave new momentum to the development of air traffic. By 1990 annual passenger numbers were 2.5 million, and in 1993 Malév launched its first flight to New York. To satisfy growing demands, construction of the 30,000 square metre Terminal

Photo: Eszter Gordon

2B began in 1997, which opened in 1998, as annual passenger numbers surpassed 4 million.

Passenger numbers exploded with the arrival of low-cost carriers (passenger numbers increased to 8 million by 2005). This presented the airport – operating under the name Budapest Airport Zrt. (BUD) since 2002 – with new challenges, which the state decided to handle through partial and then full privatisation. Following several changes of owner and name, the airport’s current majority owner is the Düsseldorf-based AviAlliance.

To handle increased passenger numbers, the new SkyCourt transit zone was built between Terminals 2A and 2B with a size of 28,000 square metres. For the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the world-famous Hungarian composer Ferenc Liszt’s birthday, the airport was renamed Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport.

The collapse of Malév in 2012 hit the airport hard, but due to the market’s quick response the airport only saw a 5 percent drop in passenger numbers, which resumed growing two years later.

Since 2014 the airport has increased its passenger numbers by at least a million each year, so that by 2017 it counted 13.1 million passengers, not far behind the numbers for Prague and Warsaw.

Developments have not ceased, since in the first half of 2018 a 15 percent increase in passenger numbers was observed, and with new airlines and destinations it is quite possible that 15 million passengers will have travelled through the airport by the end of this year. From the perspective of preserving the quality of services, it is important that renovation works on Runway 1 were completed by the summer, which included runway lights and a state-of-the-art instrument landing system.

Photo: BUD.hu

L ISZ T FERENC FERENC L ISZ T INTERNATIONAL BUDAPE ST NEMZE AIRP TKÖZI ORTREPÜLÔTÉR

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Photo: Eszter Gordon

TRAVELING FURTHER IN GREATER COMFORT

Photo: Eszter Gordon

Terminals 2A and 2B have handled airline passenger traffic up to August 2018 with 19 gates and a total of 10 airbridges, along with bus or pedestrian boarding options. The new pier adjoining Terminal 2B will be 220 metres long, 30 metres wide and with 10 new boarding corridors. It will be capable of serving three wide-body, intercontinental planes and four narrow-body aircraft at once. Taking the differing needs of the various airlines into consideration, a total of 27 boarding

methods will become possible. With the construction of the new pier, the non-Schengen low-cost airlines can also park there, thereby finally providing passengers with sufficient quality levels.

During the summer season 42 airlines serve 135 destinations from Budapest, thereby meaning that there are fewer and fewer “blank spots” in the region. For the first time in the airport’s history, this year saw four transatlantic flights operating at the same time, with Air Canada Rouge flying daily to Toronto, American Airlines flying to Philadelphia, and Poland’s LOT flying to New York and Chicago, with the latter operating a

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FERENC L ISZ T INTERNATIONAL AIRP ORT

Fun facts and figures rooms that provide a spot of colour to the airport with its elegant architectural solutions. Located across the parking lot from the terminals, it has a restaurant featuring international cuisine that can host 135, as well as a dividable conference room that can host up to 150, along with several smaller negotiating rooms, not to mention a children’s corner and playground.

In addition to passenger traffic, logistical operations are also growing dynamically. Last year Budapest Airport handled more than 127,000 tonnes of goods.

Following the construction of the logistics base for DHL Express and TNT, construction on the Cargo City logistical centre can commence this year to be completed in the second quarter of next year, which would expand the airport’s annual freight capacity by 250,000 tonnes.

Among East-Central European countries, Budapest Airport was the first to be recognised as carbonneutral by Airports Council International. Budapest

Photo: BUD.hu

There are various ways to reach Ferenc Liszt International Airport, located 16 kilometres from the city centre. The airport also features branches from international car hire companies (Avis, Budget, Buchbinder/MegaDrive, Enterprise, Europcar, Hertz, Sixt). Budapest Airport also has a partnership with the miniBUD shuttle service as well as the Főtaxi cab company. Transfers to the city centre will cost approximately 5-6,000 forints (€15-19) with the former, and approximately 7-8,000 forints (€22-25) with the latter.

Those preferring to use public transportation have two options provided by the Centre for Budapest Transport (Budapesti Közlekedési Központ – BKK). The first is bus 100E, which costs 900 forints (€3) and is an express service to the centre at Deák Square that departs every 20 minutes, taking 30-40 minutes to arrive, and running from dawn to the last scheduled flight.

The other option is bus 200E, which can be used

with regular tickets and passes, departs every 7-8 minutes and operates around the clock, transporting passengers from the airport to the southern terminus of metro line 3 at Kőbánya-Kispest station. In the coming years there are plans to provide a rail link to Terminals 2A and 2B, which would provide a faster service than what is currently available, while those with vehicles will be delighted to hear that a new parking structure is planned to be built at the airport.

Passengers who do not enjoy rising early in the morning or who are transferring and do not have the opportunity to visit the city can stay at the ibis Styles Budapest Airport Hotel, which opened earlier this year, and which is the first hotel to have a direct link to the terminals at the airport. The youthful hotel has 145

Airport is one of a total of 30 airports that has brought its energy consumption and production into balance according to independent measurements, by placing increased emphasis on waste management, waste water treatment, air pollution reduction and nature protection. A fine example of social responsibility is the Runway Run held for the sixth time on the first Saturday of September, which is an international event in the air travel profession. The sponsorship amounts poured into the race are used to support foundations each year that do charitable work, such as the British Anthony Nolan Foundation that provides assistance to children with leukaemia or the Hungarian Suhanj Foundation that promotes sporting activities among the physically disabled.

The airport is undergoing expansion, with the Cargo City facility planned for completion in mid-2019

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business partners. In addition to the duty-free shops operated by Heinemann, the Memories of Hungary store sells jury-selected high-quality souvenirs and Hungarikums (things that are quintessentially Hungarian), such as Tokaj wine, goose pâté, Zwack Unicum, salami and paprika. The world-famous Herend Porcelain Manufactory’s fragile products can be purchased without worry, for they can be delivered via courier to your final destination.

Photo: Koszticsák Szilárd/ MTI Fotó

base for its American flights. The Persian Gulf is served by two premium carriers, with Qatar Airways flying to Doha and Emirates to Dubai, while Beijing is served by Air China.

Among European destinations, London is the most popular, with six airports served by five airlines. LOT has also launched a new service to London City Airport for business travellers, with two additional carriers planning to launch flights to the British capital next year. Paris follows

London in terms of popularity, served by Air France, easyJet, Ryanair and Transavia, while Brussels is the third most popular destination.

Frankfurt, with its numerous transcontinental connections, is the fourth most popular, being served by six Lufthansa flights daily. Other significant destinations are Amsterdam, Rome, Berlin, Milan, Munich and Istanbul, and there are also exciting new destinations such as Iceland, Bordeaux, Agadir and Marrakech in Morocco, as well as Stavanger in Norway. Budapest Airport serves the most low-cost carriers in Central Europe, in large part since it is a base for the Hungarian-founded Wizz Air, which serves 60 destinations from Budapest with nine planes and is the largest slice in the Budapest airline pie.

The Sky Court connecting Terminals 2A and 2B is where checked-in passengers go through security screening. Following this passengers proceed to the duty free shops before entering the spacious waiting hall filled with eating and drinking options, as well as more shopping opportunities, not to mention exclusive lounges that provide additional comforts to travellers. Conference rooms and services are also provided for 12

AN AIRPORT STILL YOUNG AT HEART Passenger traffic at Terminal 1 ceased in 2012 following the collapse of Malév, and since then Budapest Airport has primarily used the architecturally pioneering facility as an events centre. Designed by Károly Dávid Jr., the building complex is evocative of an airplane. Its disabled-accessible spaces can host gala dinners, car shows, official receptions and conferences.

Additionally, the building has also provided a setting for cultural and leisure activities. As part of the CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival and the Budapest Spring Festival, it has hosted performances of Orff’s Carmina Burana and Mozart’s The Magic Flute by the Kodáy Philharmonia Debrecen. Several scenes from the Tom Hanks-starring Inferno and the Charlize Theron-starring Atomic Blonde were also filmed within Terminal 1’s walls.

First-class travel needs are provided by the General Aviation Terminal next to Terminal 1 built to receive private aircraft. This facility was constructed to cater to businesspeople, Hollywood stars and Formula 1 drivers who arrive via business jets.

Photo: aeropark.hu

FERENC L ISZ T INTERNATIONAL AIRP ORT

The Aviation Cultural Center (Légiközlekedési Kulturális Központ – LKK) in partnership with Budapest Airport, places great emphasis on preserving the past. Since 2013 the centre has preserved Hungarian aviation heritage with a high-quality visitor centre and airplane museum.

The AEROPARK located near Terminals 2A and 2B informs guests in Hungarian and English about the history of Hungarian civil aviation, from the Li-2 in the earliest days to the L-410 that is still used to this day. This year special emphasis will be placed on the 50-year-old Tu-154, which first appeared in the Malév fleet 45 years ago, providing services up to the turn of the millennium.

The museum will also organise special events in honour of this aircraft for the dual anniversary.

In addition to preserving the airplanes, LKK also restores Malév ground vehicles, such as the various Ikarus buses or old airplane passenger vehicles that belong to the museum’s collection, with the buses available for hire within certain requirements.

In addition to the airplanes exhibited in the museum, visitors can try their piloting skills on a flight simulator at no additional cost, or grab a refreshment at the pleasant café located next to the IL-18. By registering in advance with the Goldtimer Foundation, visitors can also check out the 19-passenger Li-2 built under license by the Soviets from plans for the DC-3 American cargo

Photo: Eszter Gordon

REMEMBERING THE PAST ON TERRA FIRMA

plane at Terminal 1. LKK organises individual and group visits to the airport, which, together with help from the restored Malév ground vehicles, allows visitors to peek behind the scenes of Budapest Airport during the day, at dusk and at night. These three-hour tours must be booked at least five days in advance at repterlatogatas. hu due to necessary security screening procedures. Although the website is only available in Hungarian, guided tours in English are also available. Inquiries can be sent to info@lkk.hu or info@repterlatogatas.hu.

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Photo: Eszter Gordon

HE ADER

At Budapest’s Gate:

Etyek

Curious tourists need only travel half an hour from the Hungarian capital to seemingly find themselves in Hollywood. Korda Studios, located in Etyek and named after the Hungarian-born British film industry giant Sir Alexander Korda, is an enormous and interactive film studio complex that allows visitors to feel as if they have landed in Tinseltown itself.

Etyek is not limited to the film industry, however, for it also contains one of the country’s youngest but most prominent wine regions with a heritage of over a century, along with a host of culinary delights.

From the 1700s, the majority of Etyek’s population were German speakers

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Photo: Eszter Gordon

PRESERVING HERITAGE OVER GENERATIONS A land of springs, wine, champagne and film

Etyek derives its name from the old Hungarian masculine name Ete, meaning seventh child.

Its favourable climactic conditions are underscored by the fact that in the 9th century BC there were prehistoric settlements on the areas of what are today Kálvária and Kakukk hills.

Photo: Eszter Gordon

Text: Zsuzsa Mátraházi A Roman colony lived in the area until 379 AD, who in turn were followed by the Eravisci, Huns and Avars. From the time of the Hungarian Conquest in 896 the area belonged to the Csák Clan.

Etyek later became a possession of the crown until 1543, when for the next 150 years it was part of the territory occupied by the Ottoman Turks.

POPULATION EXCHANGES In the 50 years following 1720, more than a hundred German families settled into the town, which was at the time owned by the Jesuits. The local history museum at Magyar utca 7 was founded by the German Association of Etyek.

The museum hosts an exhibition featuring the former furniture, folk costumes, religious relics and children’s’ toys of the Swabian population, along with photographs from the era.

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German speakers outnumbered Hungarian speakers nearly four to one among the town’s 4,000 residents in 1930. The census of 1941 showed a similar ratio. This census also revealed that nearly 20 percent of the population did not speak Hungarian. Following the Potsdam Conference, this data was used as part of the shameful government decree of 29 December 1945, which resulted in the expulsion of Hungary’s Swabian community to Germany.

In the following year, 2,300 of Etyek’s Germanspeaking population were resettled to the area around Stuttgart. In total, only 190 families with roots in the area remained, as new residents arrived from other parts of Hungary and Transylvania.

WINE FESTIVALS

Etyek was an agricultural town with famous dairy farms in the 1800s, but vineyards were planted left and right after the turn of the century. Typically with little rain, plenty of sunshine and good soil attributes, the land favours bold and acidic grape varieties, with part of the produce going to the Törley champagne factory in Budafok. The vineyards ranging from Bicske to Pákozd were recognised as a wine region in 1990. Spanning over 800 hectares, the vineyards produce an increasing number of quality wines, among them chardonnay, riesling, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, and the old Hungarian variety Királyleányka.

A row of wine cellars dating from the 1800s

Photo: Eszter Gordon

Those with a good imagination can travel through time by paying a visit to the spring known as the Hungarian Well, which produces 6-7,000 litres of water per minute. Visitors can imagine how in times past women washed clothes on washing boards, men led animals here on a daily basis to drink, and children from the village played in the Nádas Lake that was supplied by the spring’s waters. When Etyek was connected to the water grid in the 1960s, the spring’s three pools were filled in. In the 1990s, however, the town’s abandoned spring was restored, as was the statue of Saint John of Nepomuk, the protector from floods and drowning. The spring’s waters are no longer potable, however, due to soil pollution.

Photo: Eszter Gordon

E T Y EK

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Photo: Eszter Gordon

unique feature of the circular cellar row is that the wine tasting locations surround a natural depression, while similarly old cellars make up the so-called Kecske-gödör (Goat Pit).

The Etyek Cellar Festival and the Kezes-Lábos (Hand-Foot) culinary event were launched in Photo: Eszter Gordon

Wine lovers can sample the local specialities with unique aromas in the town’s 500 cellars. Two parts of the town are comprised of listed rows of cellars, where the cellars were carved into the clay soil during the mid-19th century, with stone vaulted press houses erected before them. A

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2003. Both events have since become part of the Etyek Picnic event launched in 2013 that is held each season of the year, which draws huge crowds with its culinary offerings. The next such event will be held in September (for more details, see etyekipiknik.hu). Those wishing to become acquainted with this winegrowing region and its products during less crowded times should look into the Borongoló tours.

In addition to winemakers, the town also produces artists. Decades ago two visual artists from Budapest, Lajos Csákvári Nagy and Györgyi Csókos moved to Etyek, where they revived the traditions of folk weaving and wood sculpting.

The two organised summer camps, where girls learned embroidery and weaving, and boys learned carving and how to make tools. All of their eight children also became artists, working in pottery, ceramics, metalworking, photography, dollmaking and instrument-making. During large events in the town it is worth finding their works among the many craft stands.

Photo: Eszter Gordon

Photo: Eszter Gordon

E T Y EK

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Photo: Viktória Fűrjes Photo: Eszter Gordon

APPEAR ON THE SILVER SCREEN The Hungarian-born film director Sir Alexander Korda came into his millions by pretending to be rich. He lived in expensive hotels, held pompous evening events and hoped that one day someone would provide him with the materials for his first film. In his case, it all came together.

Photo: Eszter Gordon

The monumental Korda Studios, a massive filming complex built on a former military base outside the town in 2007 bears his name, which features six studios and a visitor centre with filming adventures. The complex’s size reveals that it was built from a budget of = C90 million with European Union subsidies, and it features one of the world’s largest soundstages at nearly 6,000 square metres. As they say, a six-story building on its side would fit inside it.

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But we can also find film sets out in the open, for we can walk the streets of New York on the set used in Hellboy 2 or in other films. The filming location used for the television series The Borgias in turn will transport us back to the Middle Ages.

The first part of an interactive exhibition is dedicated to the memory of the three notable Korda brothers, whom we can thank for the films The Thief of Bagdad, The Jungle Book and The Private Life of Henry VIII, among many others. Following an introduction and overview of the development of film technology, we arrive at a showcase of today’s filming tricks. Behind the scenes secrets are revealed such as how to make a normal sized person a giant or a dwarf on the screen, or how movies create the impression of riding a motorcycle at high speeds when in fact the bike is stationary. Anyone can try their hand at the work of voiceover artists, peer into the atmosphere of a shoot, and for a few minutes indulge in a secret desire: standing before the cameras as a famous movie star.

Photo: Universal Pictures

kordafilmpark.hu

Photo: www.the-pillars-of-the-earth.tv

Images from films shot at Korda Studios, clockwise from top: Inferno, The Borgias, The Cathedral, and Hellboy 2

Photo: HBO.hu

Photo: Columbia Pictures

E T Y EK

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Photo: Eszter Gordon

The Museum of Fine Arts: rejuvenation & modernisation Located in part of the Hungarian capital’s UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the gems in the area surrounding Heroes’ Square, the Museum of Fine Arts opened in 1906.

The Millennium Monument in the square’s centre marks the end of Andrássy Avenue, as the square has the Mûcsarnok Hall of Art on one side, and the Museum of Fine Arts on the other, all of which stand as monuments to the magnificence of the architect Albert Schickedanz.

Behind and surrounding them is the City Park that awaits tourists and visitors, who will need to be mindful of the various ongoing construction works. The park is being steadily renovated with new playgrounds and a dog park, and once reconstruction works are completed, the neo-renaissance Palme House, one of the oldest structures in the park, will host an elegant café. By 2021 several new museums will also open within the framework of the Liget Budapest Project.

After 70 years the Romanesque Hall can once again be visited

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BACK INTO AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT Raphael, El Greco and the old Hungarian grand masters Text: Gyula Balogh • Photos: Eszter Gordon

The Museum of Fine Arts will await guests from the end of October with a renovated building and a newly organised permanent exhibition, a Leonardo da Vinci cabinet exhibition, as well as the world’s largest LED wall in a museum. The museum’s director László Baán discussed preparation works and future surprises with Budapest’s Finest.

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MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS What kind of novelties await tourists who visit the renovated Museum of Fine Arts?

The Museum of Fine Arts is the most significant institution with a permanent collection in the region, more specifically, the region falling between Vienna and St. Petersburg. It has a diverse collection, containing Egyptian, antique and old master works. The museum opened as the first Hungarian permanent fine arts museum in 1906 and was based on the Esterházy family’s famous private collection, which the Hungarian state purchased in 1870. This was later complemented by aristocratic and citizen donations, as well as through state acquisitions. Now, according to the

Why is the opening of this space so significant?

The Romanesque Hall was not repaired following the war, but was instead used for storage, with its condition constantly eroding. Now, the frescos that cover 2,500 square metres have been restored to their original beauty. We also built an enormous art storage facility beneath the hall, as well as added air conditioning and floor heating.

But it’s not only the Romanesque Hall that will once again greet visitors when the museum reopens, for so will the Michelangelo Hall, which in earlier years was also an exhibition hall, but for the previous decades was used for administrative purposes. We renovated and will reopen many

original layout, following a half century of forced absence, the museum will once again exhibit the works of old Hungarian masters, which in 1975 were transferred to the National Gallery.

exhibition halls, which over the previous years were used for storage. Consequently, visitors will now have an additional 2,000 square meters of exhibition space to enjoy.

Following the reconstruction, will the museum also expand with new spaces for visitors?

It will, including some areas that were closed off to the public for seventy years. The structure and decoration of the museum evokes significant eras from art history, such as Romanesque, Gothic, renaissance and baroque. The absolutely stately Romanesque Hall, for example, has been closed to the public since the end of World War II.

Meanwhile, the permanent exhibitions will now be presented in a new layout.

That’s correct. As I mentioned, the old masters’ works will return from the National Gallery to the Museum of Fine Arts. The museum’s exhibition structure will fundamentally change, or rather as is the case in other significant European museums and returning to the museum’s original practice, the Museum of Fine Arts will now 25

present the national and international schools together, or rather the works of European and old Hungarian masters alongside each other. But, since the exhibition space did not increase by that much, we could not include everything from antiquity to the present, therefore international works from the 19th and 20th centuries will be temporarily exhibited in Buda Castle at the

National Gallery, and after that in the New National Gallery scheduled for completion in the City Park in 2021. In short Hungarian art will once again be placed into an international context within the permanent exhibition, just as was customary in the institution’s first 50 years.

Can we expect occasional surprises?

A truly exciting cabinet exhibition will coincide with the reopening of the museum. Our collection contains the only small bronze equestrian statue that can be connected to Leonard da Vinci. Alongside this we will display nearly a dozen Leonardo illustrations, which introduce the concept behind the master’s equestrian statue. We will also have paintings from the Royal Collection at Windsor and also from the Louvre.

Leonardo was quite fascinated with how to solve the problem of sculpting an equestrian statue that would only stand on two legs. The 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s death will be 2019, therefore our exhibition will be one among the many connected to that anniversary.

What principles and concept went into the building’s reconstruction?

Our main aim was that the spaces mentioned earlier, that were closed to the public for decades,

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MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

could be reopened to visitors. Modernisation was also a goal in addition to the high-quality renovation works necessary for a listed building: the exhibition halls were air conditioned, we renovated the public spaces, and a new contemporary restaurant was also built. We also created new opportunities for museum pedagogical activities. It is also worth mentioning that the entire building is now accessible to those with physical disabilities.

What is something that you would gear towards international tourists?

The most important thing is that they can see one of the largest and most significant Central European art collections, which to this day remains a hidden treasure, since the Museum of Fine Arts receives less attention than other museums do. Following the exhibition of part of our collection in 2010 at the Royal Academy in London, one of the critics aptly wrote that they felt like a person discovering previously unreleased works from their favourite composer. Guests will already know many of the artists, but the experience is nonetheless brand new. The museum’s permanent exhibition offers this same experience to visitors, since we possess works from the grand masters such as Raphael, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto, Velázquez, Murillo and Goya. We have a significant Spanish collection, including five works by El Greco. In other words, we have countless works from the grand masters of art his27

Pictures: OMRRK

Restoration workshops, research rooms and a restaurant The National Museum Restoration and Storage Centre (OMRRK) will be built on the site of the former Szabolcs Street Hospital within the framework of the Liget Budapest Project.

Totalling 37,000 square metres, the building complex will meet professional requirements with its storage facilities, restoration workshops, research rooms and offices, alongside which the Central European Art History Research Institute will be located.

Uniquely for Europe, the centre will be surrounded by a 13,000 square metre park open to the public during operating hours.

The institute will provide the technical background to the Museum of Ethnography, the Museum of Fine Arts and the National Gallery, along with the new museums that will open in the City Park. The visitor centre and restaurant will be located in the formerly Jewish hospital’s reconstructed prayer house.

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MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS tory that are internationally less known. At the same time, an exciting novelty will await visitors: the world’s largest LED wall in a museum, which will bring the hundreds of objects in the permanent collection closer to visitors.

How can Hungarian artists attract the attention of international visitors?

Among the old Hungarian masters, there are two careers that are also considerable by European standards: Jakob Bogdani ( Jakab Bogdány) and Ádám Mányoki, who in the late 17th and early 18th centuries worked in the courts of various European rulers. All of those interested in Hungarian painting can receive a comprehensive overview from the Middle Ages to the end of the 1700s.

The renovation of the Museum of Fine Arts is part of the Liget Project. How did development of the museum’s surroundings proceed?

The renovation of the Museum of Fine Arts was a grand-scale plan, part of the Liget Budapest Project, which today is the largest cultural city development project in Europe. Within this framework, in addition to the Museum of Fine Arts’ renovation, the project will also see the construction of the New National Gallery, the new Museum of Ethnography, and the creation of the House of Hungarian Music. The zoo will also expand with Europe’s largest biodome. This world-class tourism and family centre that will be created in Budapest’s oldest city park will be rooted in history. In addition to the numerous cultural institutions, one of Europe’s largest bathing complexes has operated here for over a hundred years, as has an ice rink and one of the continent’s oldest

zoos. In addition to respecting tradition, we will also keep an eye on upholding a high standard of quality, since the designer of the New National Gallery is the Pritzker Prize-winning SANAA architectural office, while the House of Hungarian Music will be designed by the world-famous architect Sou Fujimoto.

How are the developments going and when will they be completed?

The renovated Museum of Fine Arts will open at the end of October. Construction of the Museum of Ethnography has begun, and the entire Liget Budapest Project will be completed in 2021. In the upcoming years new museum buildings will be erected and the entire park will be renewed.

The first stage of this world-class idea of significance to Europe is the completion of reconstruction works on the Museum of Fine Arts.

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30 Copyright © Tate / Tate Images

Cultural Quarter Hungarian and world premieres as well as exciting public programmes will all feature during the CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival. With defining figures from the contemporary arts world such as Ólafur Arnalds, Sinfonietta Rıˉga, The King's Singers, Dean Brown, the Recirquel Contemporary Circus Company and Peeping Tom, every genre will be well represented this autumn across the city.

The events for one of the region’s most important comprehensive arts festivals will take place from 5-21 October, with some held in special locations such as on a boat, in a café, at the circus, and in an art workshop that was converted from a manufacturing plant.

Lucian Freud’s “Girl with a White Dog” The Hungarian National Gallery will present one of the most impactful periods in 20th century modern British painting with the exhibition “Bacon, Freud and the School of London”

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BACON, FREUD AND THE SCHOOL OF LONDON

Lucian Freud’s “Girl with a Kitten”

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Copyright © Tate / Tate Images

Text: Györgyi Orbán

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One of the most impactful eras in 20th century modern British painting will be shown in Budapest at the Hungarian National Gallery, featuring 90 pictures and a Giacometti statue, all under the name Bacon, Freud and the School of London. The exhibition will run from 5 October to 20 January.

Bacon, Freud and the School of London will focus on such key figures from the London School as Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff. These four artists will be the centre of the collection, but, as co-curator Dávid Fehér stated, it will look onto its precedents and also examines the impact that was made on contemporary British painting. One of the important threads of British figurative painting from the early 20th century to the present will be introduced through the works of the younger and middle generations. For the exhibit, important paintings were borrowed from European and transatlantic public and private collections, and numerous works will arrive from the collection of the Tate Britain in London, thanks in no small part to the wonderful relationship that the two institutions have developed. The exhibit’s concept was conceived together with the curator Elena Crippa, Fehér added.

Following World War II, not only did the economic and military centre of the world move, but so did its cultural centre, relocating from Paris and Italy to New York. In London, artists of various ethnic backgrounds tried to make their way in life alone, with their attention directed at the French and Spanish classics, while in America abstract art was all the rage. It was only in 1959 that London artists found their direction and stuck with figurative painting.

They worked alone in their workshops, but frequently met in their favourite pub, the Colony Room in Soho. In a departure from their fellow artists in Paris and New York, they did not issue a manifesto, did not explain their work, and their main ambition was to make figurative painting defining once again. The painter and theoretician Ronald Kitaj, who belonged to this group, was the first to call Bacon and his associates the London School in 1976. These artists knew each other well, had close friendships and modelled for each other. According to Bacon, their work cannot be called a school, although he conceded that connections did exist.

The works of the artists belonging to the London School reached a wider audience in the late 1980s as part of the Royal Academy’s exhibition on 20th century British art, and through the subsequent exhibition that travelled around Europe for a year. The works showcase the themes of everyday life and present a person-centred expressive approach to painting. The central figures of the paintings are frequently human figures that feature experimentation with figure formation and paint as a material. As a result, the tangible sensitivity and materiality of the image is one of the key issues in interpreting the works. The exhibition sometimes goes beyond geographic boundaries and looks at the antecedents and parallels of expressive material and body shaping such as that undertaken by the Italian Alberto Giacometti and the French Chaïm Soutine. But the central figures of the London School are placed into the context of the local art tradition by the exhibition. The exhibition also presents the works – landscapes, portraits, females nudes – of such influential and school-creating British painters as Walter Richard Sickert, David Bomberg, Stanley Spencer and William Coldstream.

As Dávid Fehér revealed, works by young artists will be presented on the ground floor of the National Gallery’s A Building, hearkening back to 20th century tendencies. Among them the most important artist is Jenny Saville, known for her monumental portraits.

She starts with the human body in her painting, which seemingly becomes a landscape. The Ghanaian-British painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye is the youngest artist in the collection, and her figurative painting signals a continuation of the traditions associated with the London School. The inclusion of women is quite prominent in this section, and this is especially noteworthy since at its beginnings the London School was comprised solely of men.

On the first floor two paintings from Francis Bacon can be seen from his pope series, which were inspired by Velazquez’s portrait of Pope Innocent X, but which are laced with expressive elements.

Another one of his images is a subjective depiction known as “Dog” on raw canvas. Alberto Giacometti’s statue depicting a woman’s figure will stand here, the rawness of which can be compared to the London School’s style. The exhibition also features works from Frank Auerbach. whose parents placed him on a train from Berlin to London, never to see him again. Leon Kossoff’s landscapes of London are included, who painted his works, among them the Thames shore, in a workshop.

Lucian Freud received a separate room, who together with his family, including his famous psychoanalyst grandfather Sigmund, arrived to London from Vienna. The entire spectrum of his art will be showcased from his early works prepared with smoother brushwork with a thin brush to his later, thick brushed paintings using much material. One of his most famous paintings, on loan from the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection will be presented here, which is “Reflection with Two Children (Self-Portrait)”, featuring two children’s figures in the lower left and two lampshades hanging from the ceiling behind him. Two of his emblematic portraits feature his first wife (he had many wives and 17 children), one of which is “Girl with a White Dog”, in which a woman with an exposed breast can be seen from a distance with a white dog in her lap. In the other, “Girl with a Kitten”, a woman holds a kitten in her hand that peers out, creating the impression as if she is about to strangle the animal. The beauty radiating from the images and its rawness defines Freud’s entire oeuvre, the curator noted.

The exhibition also points to different points of interest regarding the London School: one example is the painting by Michael Andrews, in which a man sits in black water and plays with his swimming daughter, thereby depicting the complete vulnerability of the body. Visitors can sense timeless painting at the exhibition, including a constant struggle with the material. The enduring questions posed by materialistic, sensual painting have not lost their relevance today, for the concept of painting represented by the creators of the London School continues to live on in the art of subsequent generations.

In the last room guests can see a collection of films depicting the artists, while the corridors and walls feature archival materials, such as the originals from Bacon’s painted photographs, as well as handwritten notes, letters and documents.

For the London School exhibition, a Hungarian and English language catalogue will be prepared with studies, along with photographs of the paintings found in the exhibition.

The exhibition is part of CAFe Budapest’s programme and opens on 5 October

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THE TRAFÓ TURNS 20

To celebrate the anniversary, the Trafó will also integrate part of the city into the festival for the street performance of Pelat on 16-18 October. The main characters are a tree trunk and a person, with the performance by the Catalan Joan Català

According to its founder György Szabó, innovation was a key word in creating the Trafó House of Contemporary Arts. Szabó, who remains a member of its board of directors, recalled that he came across the former Liliom Street transformer building while looking for a practice hall, which just so happened to be used at the time by a French artistic group rehearsing for a festival. They kept the name Trafó to symbolise that they would like to transform and make an impact.

Over the previous 20 years the Trafó has become one of the region’s outstanding contemporary art institutions, hosting artists such as the excellent German dancer-choreographer Sasha Waltz, the Canadian The Holy Body Tattoo group, the La Strada Bulgarian theatre, and many others. This year (on 19-20 October) the Belgian surrealist company Peeping Tom will make a long-awaited return to the venue, and will perform Moeder, the second part of a trilogy focusing on family.

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Photo: Marti Fradera Bohera

The transformer building in Liliom Street was built in 1909, but this representative example of industrial art nouveau was transformed two decades ago and became a contemporary arts house. The location is an institution, a space, a medium, an intellectual adventure, a risk and an opportunity. It is also where life is all about dance, theatre, visual arts, literature and music.

The Trafó has always led the pack in terms of organising performances together with international acts, which has been assisted by EU subsidies and the institution’s reputation.

Numerous domestic and theatre formations (such as Béla Pintér’s) made their debuts in this Ferencváros institution, which is also a regular host for Budapest’s international cultural festivals. Dance, music, theatre and visual arts remain the defining elements of its programmes. In the present, however, the Trafó has seen an increase in the number of productions that cannot be categorised into traditional genres, thereby enriching the Budapest Spring and CAFe Contemporary Arts Festivals through its collaborations. According to Szabó, change has always been the most important thing for the Trafó. Beáta Barda, the institution’s new director as of last year also intends to continue with this in mind.

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SINGING MODELS ON THE CATWALK

The Issue – a catwalk concert at the Trafó Text: Rita Szentgyörgyi • Photos: Gergô Nagy

The CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival and the Trafó House of Contemporary Arts will jointly organise the unconventional production The Issue, which is the work of the costume designer Fruzsina Nagy and choirmaster Dóra Halas, who imagined and developed a unique form of total art through their first collaborative experimental work Taboo Collection (2006).

The “catwalk concert” genre combines the worlds of theatre, live music and a fashion show. This format will be employed once more together with the Soharóza Choir, the sound designer Márk Bartha, and two new compositional partners, the lyricist Ádám Fekete and the choreographer Emese Cuhorka.

“My dream was that singing models would introduce my costumes on a catwalk-like stage,” Fruzsina Nagy revealed about how the idea started. “I told Dóri of this idea, who replied that she has a choir, Soharóza, and that we could create it together. With the Taboo Collection we found our form of expression: singing models who wear extreme clothing designs on a runway. I believe that we’ve discovered something special, through which both of us can fulfil ourselves, and which also provides audiences with an experience.”

The concept behind The Issue has its basis in Zoltán Kodály’s musical comedy Székelyfonó, which is a series of etudes built on folk songs that reveal a picture of Hungarian society, the workings of an administrative office, and the life situations created during the administration of an issue.

“The reason we chose Székelyfonó”, Dóra Halas began, “Is because we submitted an application for an innovating musical theatre topic in Berlin, which had only one condition: it must reach back to a work from the past or to musical tradition.

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We considered doing something with the catwalk genre, to which Kodály’s musical comedy proved to be suitable due to its episodic nature and the scenario created from the linked together folk songs.

As the women sing about local life at the spinnery, The Issue also gives us an opportunity to look into our own lives. The administrative office is the place where we encounter everyday issues, frustrations, and nerve-wracking and humorous situations. For each episode and bureaucratic topic, we searched for folk songs that can relate to the content. These songs, in an original choir transcription, will be performed with the support of electronic music based on the sounds of folk instruments, with Ádám Fekete composing additional lyrics.”

the various layers will be presented through a striptease from a beautiful, enticing outer layer to the increasingly rotten inner costumes. With the damage done by wildlife collection, the headpieces will present the wildlife causing damage, and the clothes themselves will represent the damage done to crops.”

The artists will also include the personal and general experiences of the people who have become lost within the web of bureaucracy. “In the opening scene a man arrives to the administrative office to receive a disabled certificate. Soon we learn that he does not qualify for it, and his clothes change spectacularly,” Nagy reveals. “I came up with the idea from seeing massive black

“We aim to have a theatrical impact that makes the audience think in addition to the spectacle and entertainment”, Nagy added. “In comparison to the sparse atmosphere and visuals of the Taboo Collection, The Issue is much more colourful, relaxed, chaotic and playful. It is trash in the positive sense of the word, highlighting the meaning and humour of the storytelling clothes. I also strive for creativity with my use of materials. The Velcro clothes worn by the administrative workers were printed onto a canvas-like material, which resembles the dressable dolls cut from the backs of old chocolate and cookie boxes. The pregnant women wear inflatable outfits. At first their stomachs inflate after they become pregnant from a folk song, and by the end they are surrounded by five prams. As part of the spoiled goods collection,

jeeps with disabled placards in their windshields on a daily basis, from which physically fit young people emerge.”

By blending movement, spectacle and song with choir music, the experimental and enthusiastic civilians that make up the 31 members of the Soharóza Chorus enliven the administrators and their suffering clients on a stage resembling a catwalk. Fruzsina Nagy and Dóra Halas see the joy and success of working together in each other.

The inventers of this runway performance have long-term plans as well. They hope that this form of artistic expression will find a home with other companies, in education, and in community music composition.

11-12 October 2018, 8 pm Trafó House of Contemporary Arts

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FAUST 1&2 A multilingual theatre installation Text: Szentgyörgyi Rita

Photo: Pathos Theater

Following its highly successful premiere in Munich, Pathos Theater, the Bavarian capital’s largest independent company will bring their experimental performance of Faust to CAFe audiences. This international project features German, Greek, Turkish and even two Hungarian artists, both of whom belong to the Pro Progressione Hungarian contemporary performing arts organisation.

Angelika Fink, the leader of Munich’s Pathos Theater and director of Faust 1&2 asked Pro Progressio to collaborate in the performance by delegating artists that would participate in the production as composers. That is how Piroska Móga, who writes and directs, and Máté Czakó who works as a choreographer and also directs, received the call.

“We could use Goethe’s work for inspiration in our joint compositional work,” Máté recalled. “We took from it what was important for us and created the scenes titled “Your Faust” with movement and puppetry, with some performers using their bodies, voices or music. We created etudes at the workshop-formatted rehearsals, which later served as the basis for the performance. According to the director’s intentions, three principles are discussed, Faust, Mephistopheles and Gretchen’s characters, so that we could find what binds their relationships with each other, and what drives them.” During the several months of rehearsals that took place in workgroups, the director placed a great emphasis on making sure that the performing artists from various ethnic backgrounds would be in tune with one another. Máté initiated a practice whereby they would lead each in the rehearsal space and move together. What grabbed Piroska the most in Faust’s story was that in his immeasurable quest for knowledge he also commits destruction and cruelty, wanting to make everything his own. “The #metoo movement was launched at that time and naturally this also affected us sensitively, to which we responded,” Piroska said.

“This launched us in the direction of focusing more on Gretchen’s tragedy, vulnerability and humiliation. The tipping of the hierarchy in the male-female relationship is also raised, as the more violent person takes control. This is shown in the performance through an improvisational series of scenes. I roll out an orange,

begin to play with it, like a kitten, trying to get inside it more and more, ripping it apart with tooth and nail, then leave it there.”

With respect to visual solutions, the Hungarian actors called this special version of Faust poetic, strange, an ironic circle of characters, and a wax museum, all painted with broad strokes. The costumes evoke the circus, its playfulness and the skills of its acrobats, since the characters “travel” from one moment to the next. In the scene with the orange, Piroska wears a plumed headpiece, which associates her with the violent peacock. Máté wears an artist’s basic outfit and in a juggler’s top flies a paper kite and ties a thread between two columns in the shape of a pentagram, symbolising that in his quest for knowledge, Faust is moving his boundaries again and again.

Piroska plays violin and Máté drums in the live music production with associative images that ignites a series of ideas. The sentences quoted from Goethe’s Faust are spoken in the actors’ own languages. Munich saw five performances, and premieres are also planned for Hamburg and Berlin. The Pathos artistic centre was developed to accommodate contemporary dance, theatre and music in a former factory building in the 2000s. From 2010, under the artistic direction of Angelika Fink, it became one of the independent scene’s defining locations. The Pathos Theater’s elegant industrial space provides a unique location for specific performances, into which the set designer Astrid Behrenz has built an elevator shaft, columns, a bar and the upper level as Hell’s “decorations”. The decision to stage the production in Budapest in the Három Holló Café’s basement was by no accident, for it is a space also divided by columns.

16 October 2018, 8 pm Három Holló Café

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ENTERTAINING GENERATIONS

Bartók, Boulez, Bella

Photo: Verena Chen

Text: Rita Szentgyörgyi

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Quatuor Diotima (Diotima Quartet), founded in 1996 by laureates of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, will take the stage in Budapest at the Budapest Music Center. Quatuor Diotima brings new approaches to the great works of the 20th century and the most significant compositions of the previous decades, ordering new works on a regular basis. Their performance in Budapest will include Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5, a work by the Estonian composer Helena Tulve and a new piece by Máté Bella. We spoke with the quartet’s spokesperson, the violist Franck Chevalier.

What role does Máté Bella’s composition play in your repertoire?

The CAFe Budapest Festival brought Máté Bella to our attention, who is a very exciting young composer. Taking past traditions as his foundation he has developed relatively experimental music. And in addition to his roots being in contemporary music, a critical view of music from previous eras also appears in his work.

Quatuor Diotima focuses on discovering and supporting young composers. Who is on your “list”?

We consider the discovery of composers, instrumental performers and young quartets at the beginning of their careers as our mission. We also help them with debut concerts, so that they can find their own style. We are proud that we launched the Czech composer Miroslav Srnka, whose career quickly took off, but I can also mention the Spanish Alberto Posadas, the French Gérard Pesson, or the Swiss Stefano Gervasoni. We released a series of albums under the name Diotima Collection to showcase the work of young contemporary composers.

Your collaboration with Pierre Boulez shortly before his death on the revised version of his colossal quartet series had a profound effect on you.

Pierre Boulez is an unavoidable figure in contemporary music.

He wrote his quartet series quite young at the age of 23. When we met with him and raised the idea of recording the album to him, he was at first opposed to it. For him, the greatest problem was making the unfinished series playable. “It is difficult to rebutton a jacket that has not been worn in a long time,” he told us. During our collaboration and talks we received a wonderful gift from him: he frequently spoke of the masters who defined his career, from György Ligeti to Stockhausen and Luigi Nono. Gustav Mahler, Bartók and his enthusiasm for the second Vienna School had a defining impact in the preparation of Diotima’s repertoire.

One of your important points of reference is the catalogue of the first and second Vienna Schools.

It was quite an amazing adventure to immerse ourselves into the vibrant era of the Viennese composers. We spent four-five years of intense work on preparing the two series. Musical methods of expression or style are important reference points in contemporary music that represent the Vienna School and the works of Schönberg, Berg and Webern. Without familiarity with these, the contemporary music of the decades since cannot be understood. Bartók’s music is also an exceptionally outstanding reference point, which fundamentally changed the history of string quartets.

What perspectives go into assembling your programmes?

A priority is always placed on introducing new works. The past’s musical heritage is German dominated, and within that so are the works that in some way inspired contemporary 20th century music. The key word is modernity. Beethoven’s final five string quartets, Schubert’s final three string quartets, and Brahms’s works are unavoidable for us. Just as much as the work of the French impressionists Ravel and Debussy are. Among the contemporary classics, we selected from the period following the 1950s, from composers such as Ligeti, Henri Dutilleux, Pierre Boulez, Helmut Lachenmann and Brian Ferneyhough.

How is the work divided among the four of you?

We strive to work democratically. At times conflicts may arise from what eras or works we want to place an emphasis on.

Everyone gives their suggestions, and we decide based upon a majority vote. The collective’s binding power overrules personal perspectives.

What is the secret for Quatuor Diotima’s 22 consecutive years of success?

Our goal is to be a bridge between the groups interpreting the repertoire of classical music and the string quartets focusing exclusively on modern music. We hold ourselves to the Bartókian attitude that the classics should be played in a modern style and contemporary music in a classical style. In certain countries our musical approach is valued more, in others less. Asian audiences are exceptionally receptive to our style of playing, while in the United States, despite our frequent tours, they are less receptive to an intellectual and analytical approach.

What ties do you have to Hungarian musical life?

The tradition of string quartets is unbelievably rich in Hungary. Enthusiasm for Béla Bartók’s music has accompanied our career, and one of Ligeti’s main work’s, String Quartet No. 2 is one of our repertoire’s foundational works, which we have played many, many times.

What are you plans for the future?

Together with the Naïve recording label we will continue to record the works of contemporary composers. We would also like to immerse ourselves deeper into the works of Beethoven and Schubert. One of our most important responsibilities is to pass the baton to the next generation. We continue to provide support to composers just launching their careers within the framework of the Diotima Academy.

9 October 2018, 7:30 pm Budapest Music Center

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KATONA TWINS: FIFTY- FIFTY

Original compositions and contemporary transcriptions The England-based Katona Twins will provide festival audiences with a unique experience that they cannot hear anywhere else, while Péter Katona will also treat CAFe audiences to a special solo performance.

Photo: Twins Katona

Text: Rita Szentgyörgyi “Our repertoire is evenly divided between original compositions and transcriptions. As such, from our perspective, our programme at the Liszt Academy will be entirely contemporary. The majority of the pieces have never been performed before in Hungary, and the show will also include a special debut,” Péter revealed.

The title Fifty-Fifty also refers to your own 50th anniversary: this year you’ve reached a combined age of 100.

At the start of our careers we nearly exclusively performed works written for the guitar. When we ran out of these works, we transcribed music from the repertoires of other instruments. This was educational but time-consuming, and I frequently thought about how with this much energy spent we could just write our own music. Which is what we began to do years ago. That’s how we began composing.

Arvo Pärt’s pop song “Spiegel im Spiegel” was originally written for violin and piano. What kind of challenges were posed by transcribing it for guitar?

The composition contains truly few sounds. It can be said to be simple, but excellent. As such, it was not particularly difficult to transcribe. The challenge arises during the performance, since on a guitar – as opposed to a violin – you cannot keep a note going, since they fade away once the string has been plucked. We tried to compensate for this with the many other musical opportunities that a guitar provides.

Your selection also includes two curiosities, a Tarregà transcription and an original composition, the Karamazov Suite.

What inspired the pieces?

Tarregà's piece Recuerdos de la Alhambra is one of the best known and most beautiful works composed for a solo guitar. A transcription for a guitar duet exceptionally similar to the original has also been written. I composed an entirely different second part to it, even changing the original part slightly. As such, it’s unavoidable that my attempts will be considered heresy by some traditional classical guitarists… But I believe that this popular piece can be performed in a slightly different way that still approaches it from a familiar perspective. The Karamazov Suite was inspired by Dostoyevsky’s famous novel. I happened to be reading the novel by coincidence at the same time as I was composing the first version of the music, 40

CULTUR AL QUARTER - C AFe BUDAPE ST therefore the Karamazov brothers’ characters became part of the work unintentionally. But there is no Russian music influence. Instead, at times the guitar’s Spanish and Arabic origin comes to the surface, although this is not intentional either.

Audiences’ positive responses inspired me to write additional themes. “Smerdyakov’s Theme” was a consciously composed character description, while the first part titled “The Scandal” is a musical introduction of one of the novel’s opening scenes.

From baroque to tango and contemporary music you have dabbled in seemingly every style. What inspired you to turn away from classical guitar to other genres?

In 2009 we were invited to perform as part of a grand-scale Western European concert tour. The motto for the series organised across 42 sporting arenas was the meeting of pop and classical music. We took the stage with such famous pop acts as Roxette and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Since the 20,000-member audience was frequently not necessarily classical music inclined, the organiser asked us to also perform works that even those who’ve never heard classical music before would recognise. Consequently, we composed some classical-sounding music to go between a few famous guitar solos.

We touched a new audience with our open approach, who would not have listened to classical guitar music otherwise.

Who are your favourite composers, and which musical period do you prefer?

Music literature is filled with exceedingly great works, therefore I have many favourites. Thanks to our instrument we are always happy to play Spanish music, such as Manuel de Falla and Albeniz’s works. In addition to this works by Bach, Scarlatti and Bartók hold a special place in our hearts.

The larger part of the guitar’s repertoire was written for solo performances. Why did you decide to form a guitar duo?

Early in our careers we seemingly only performed solo works.

We were 20 years old when a Brazilian guitar duo, the Assad Brothers, performed a concert that made such an impact on us, that we decided to form a guitar duo as well. Although the repertoire for two guitars is quite limited, the transcribing work contains much more opportunities, since seemingly everything can be played on two guitars.

How do you divide the work between each other?

We usually select the repertoire together, taking into consideration what the concert organisers would like. When transcribing and writing our own pieces we work by ourselves. When playing the pieces together, we are always prepared to make changes, and not only a few. Our experience is that a huge amount of things are only discovered once a person tries it on an instrument. The success of our guitar playing is in large part due to the uniqueness of our transcribing.

6 October 2018, 7 pm Liszt Academy of Music, Solti Hall

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Photo: sinfoniettariga.lv

THREE BROTHERS FROM THE EDGE OF EUROPE Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia Text: Máté Ur

As a music fan, if we inquire about Latvia, the first names to come to mind will probably be the conductor Mariss Jansons or the excellent mezzosoprano Elı̄na Garanča, while Wagner fans will most likely mention that the master was a music director in Riga in the past. Those more knowledgeable of ballet could add that Mikhail Baryshnikov, one of the finest ballet dancers of all time, was born in Riga and recently took up Latvian citizenship. Until recently, Riga has only been independent for short periods of time, which is why the German, Polish, Swedish and Russian influences have created such a vibrant atmosphere around the country, that today’s Latvia, which speaks one of Europe’s most unique and archaic European languages, can only profit as it searches for its own identity.

The CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival bows its head to this and to their search for their own path within Europe as Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia will be the focus of this year’s programme. If we speak of Baltic chamber music then there is no need to introduce the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra or the Kremerata Baltica led by Gidon Kremer, and there are also the young groups, whose members grew up in the ornate styles of baroque and classical, but from the start where committed to modern music. The Sinfonietta Rı̄ga formed in 2006 with the intent of showcasing vibrant and rich Baltic contemporary music to the world. Their ideas and mu42

sical conceptualisations and endeavours have been rewarded with numerous recognitions, among them a Grammy Award, which was awarded for the performance of an Arvo Pärt work that was conducted by the Estonian Tõnu Kaljuste. In addition to this group, the other chamber formation to receive acclaim for their participation in Adam’s Lament were the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, the Latvian Radio Choir and the Vox Clamantis vocal ensemble. This recording was chosen as the recording of the month for the BBC in January 2013.

At Sinfonietta Rı̄ga Budapest performance the Latvian Pēteris Vasks's monumental Cello Concerto No. 2 strives for nothing less than to follow human life’s great mysteries from birth to death. The piece, which will have its premiere in Hungary, was written for the world-famous cellist Sol Gabetta. At the Budapest performance, the solo part will be performed by Kristaps Bergs, who is an alum of the Viennese master school, which is led by the cellist István Várdai. The concert will also feature a work apiece from Andris Dzenı̄tis, Erkki-Sven Tüür and Elis Vesik, which draw from the openness that imperceptibly takes the Baltic states from the edge of Europe into the mainstream of its culture.

5 October 2018, 7:30 pm Müpa Budapest – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

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CALLING EMOTIONS INTO BATTLE

Levente Gyöngyösi’s work for the King’s Singers Text: Máté Ur

CAFe Budapest approached me with the request. It was quite an honour, and the assignment is the crest of my career as a choir music composer up to this point, in addition to which I consider this opportunity important because although I’ve written several choir pieces, I have only written two specifically for vocal ensembles: for the Cantus Corvinus Ensemble and the Banchieri Singers.

Photo: Zsófia Raffay

The world-famous King’s Singers from Great Britain will perform once again in Budapest as a part of the CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival. Their concert will also mark the premiere of Levente Gyöngyösi’s Veni Iesu, veni amor (“Come, Jesus, Come, Love”), which the composer wrote for this occasion. We spoke with Gyöngyösi about the work and about his other choir pieces.

What specific characteristics did you have to keep in mind?

I was given completely free rein, but the assignment was nonetheless still special, since the King’s Singers are comprised of six members, featuring two countertenors. This is somewhat different from if I had to work with two soprano voices in the case of a traditional formation. The piece is therefore somewhat lower in register, which resulted in a darker sound.

Did you take the King’s Singers career up to this point into consideration?

Naturally I listened to pieces from them, but I did not study their repertoire in particular. Instead, I used the lyrics I chose as my point of departure, which although in Latin, belong to a typically Hungarian songbook. I must admit that Mihály Csíkszentmihályi’s volume produced in 1797, which praises Jesus in an absolutely ecstatic method, I previously used when composing for a women’s choir, which the Puellae Ensemble led by Valér Jobbágy performed in the early 2000s. But the

topic has not let me rest since.

What is present is a very typical baroque attitude, the Catholic Church’s specific answer to the Reformation. The latter brought about a much stricter, puritan perspective that wished to place Christianity’s original image in focus.

In response, there was nothing simpler than to take the many emotions back into battle, and to make religion speak to the heart once again. Consequently, in this case the feeling of love uniquely mixes together with the worship of Christ. This seemingly inseparable duality is what occupied me the most, and which provided me with the opportunity to compose an uplifting work.

What place do choir works occupy in your oeuvre?

Perhaps I could call myself a choir composer, since this is my 74th piece. But I always wanted to write operas and have written two stage works. Writing an opera takes roughly three years, for which choir pieces are an excellent way to learn. I think that if we speak of good choir pieces, then it is not different from a dramatic scene, in which an entirely complex world is formed. I recently set out to realise one of my old dreams, which is a 40-part motet following the example of Thomas Tallis’s famous Spem in alium, which I hope will be performed by the Cantemus Mixed Choir of Nyíregyháza.

21 October 2018, 7:30 pm Müpa Budapest – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

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PAINTING LANDSCAPES WITH ICELAND’S MELODIES Text: Kornél Zipernovszky

Ólafur Arnalds is the latest world star to emerge from the Icelandic pop music scene.

He composes and plays keyboards in addition many other instruments, and is also a sound engineer and producer. Ólafur will perform his newest album re:member in Budapest accompanied by a string quartet and a percussionist.

Born in Mosfellsbær east of Reykjavik, Ólafur participated in music education while at school, learning the flute from the age of 5. He did not, however, enjoy the classical music world’s reservedness and constraints, although he loved the music itself. As a student, he drummed for the metal bands Fighting Shit and Celestine, and first garnered attention after giving some of his demos to the German group Heaven Shall Burn.

After listening to them, the band asked him to provide a few studio recordings with piano and violin synthesiser sounds to act as intros and outros to their songs.

The decisive moment in Ólafur’s career followed soon after, because the London record label Erased Tapes, who discovered him through his work with the German band, asked him if he would like to assemble an album from similar music.

Eulog y for Evolution, Ólafur’s first solo album, was released 11 years ago. The following year he toured with Sigur Rós and collaborated again with Heaven Shall Burn on their new album.

Since then Ólafur has moved from one success to another, as his music continues to make an impact on people far and wide.

As is common with composers and performers from the Nordic countries, the first associations that listeners make are with wide spaces, rugged terrains, deep fjords, and sparkling seas. What no doubt contributed to this is that Ólafur is Icelandic: this unique island country is a land of active geysers and volcanoes. Of course, if this type of music does not provoke an internal movie but listeners simply allow it inside them, then they will also realise the types of complex emotions that it can produce from simple elements. Ólafur is capable of showing what is uplifting about everyday life.

Since the release of his first album he has participated in various collaborations, and one of his film scores received a BAFTA award. Ólafur has also written music for Wayne McGregor’s company, contributed to the film The Hunger 44

Games, and also covered Chopin together with the Japanese-German pianist Alice Sara Ott. Further success resulted from his collaborations with the German pianist Nils Frahm. This partnership lasting multiple years also resulted in Frahm remixing Ólafur’s first album. Under the name Kiasmos, he has also participated in a unique techno project together with the Icelandic DJ and producer Janus Rasmussen. Ólafur, who titled his first album Island Songs, can include so many musical influences into his own musical world that the music press is at a loss to categorise him. Experimental? Ambient? Electronica? Since piano and string quart instruments dominate his music both in acoustic and digital formats, his recordings are frequently described as being neoclassical or postrock. What can nonetheless be felt is that the music’s composer has deeply absorbed the flute’s natural, spirit-filled sound. His past as a metal drummer has also left its mark. The tour for re:member, which will allegedly see 20 tonnes worth of equipment transported by truck, was planned over two years, something he previously never devoted as much time to. Ólafur also developed a computer program with his colleagues that allows him to connect his playing from one piano to two others at the same time, and even direct the lighting with his music.

Photo: Benjamin Hardmann

Ólafur remains unpretentious to this day, despite becoming world-famous by the age of 31. He performs at festivals and holds his own concerts, has performed in Montreux, Montreal, New York’s The Town Hall and Vienna’s Konzerthaus, although he is proudest of his performances at Berlin’s Tempodrom. In regards to this, he told a local paper “I toured with Sigur Rós there in 2008, but only as an opening act. I was 21 years old at the time, and when I looked around, I decided that one day I would return and be the headliner.”

14 October 2018, 8 pm Müpa Budapest – Béla Bartók National Concert Hall

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CONSISTENCY IN TRANSFORMATION Text: Kornél Zipernovszky

Photo: The Transform Quintet The Transform

The Transform Quintet, which for all intents and purposes has an unchanged line-up, will stage a 20th anniversary grand concert with surprise guests and, in a gesture worthy of their name, perform new songs at the Budapest Jazz Club.

The Transform Quintet is a dynamic band with a twirling momentum that cannot be tied to the music from any one generation or decade. Their diverse styles can perhaps best be described as somewhere between modern jazz and melodic jazz-rock. Transform’s keyboardist Gábor “Tojás” Horváth, who writes most of their songs, believes in the power of a traditional melody and jazz’s bright and cheerful characteristics that have been present since the swing era. To these driving rhythms and storytelling melodies the quintet adds improvisations and orchestrations with various tones to fully realise their captivating power. “In music and as people we are fortunate that we complete each other,” Dániel Redô, the band’s founding percussionist revealed.

In addition to Horváth and Redô, the core group has not changed, with Attila Gálfi drumming and Márton Eged playing bass guitar. What has changed is the person playing the lead melodic instrument, as Zoltán Dévényi originally played guitar, who was then followed by the saxophonists Péter Jelasity and János Ávéd. The saxophonists were in turn followed by the guitarist Bálint Gyémant, who has been with the group for some time, and who in addition to forming an international�ly acclaimed group together with Veronika Harcsa, has also

shown the exciting possibilities for experimentation at the edges of the jazz, rock and electronic genres with various formations.

As for what it takes to keep a band together for 20 years, all the while letting the band members venture out to sate their own ambitions?

“Friendship, love, respect and musical fanaticism. Our careers launched at the same time, we experienced our first successes and failures together as a group and grew together”, Horváth responded. “Transform Quintet is a family, the origin to which we all gladly return”, he summarised. Dániel Redô’s memories are exactly the same. “We were together seemingly every day, attended concerts together, and introduced new music to each other. We tried a lot of things and spent a lot of time working with management. We prepared concerts and records, and bought each other instruments if someone needed to buy something but couldn’t afford it on their own”, he said of their early days.

It is difficult to extract a specific moment from the two decades, but what can certainly be considered the height of their careers was when the they recorded an album and performed together with Michael Brecker’s former pianist Joey Calderazzo, meaning that they did not simply meet on the stage for a few tunes. Transform released Another Child in 2010, and there was electricity in the air at the album’s debut performance at the Budapest Jazz Club. An earlier album’s title (Each Other’s Children) also refers to childhood. According to Redô, memories are always present in the band’s appearances, since they formed the group at such a young age. Their greatest virtue, which keeps not only the band but their fans together as well, is their commitment to the importance of music and their faith in the power of expressing clean and honest ideas through music.

18 October 2018, 8 pm Budapest Jazz Club

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A PARADE OF TRUMPETS IN THE BUDAPEST JAZZ CLUB The repertoire of Maynard Ferguson, perhaps the greatest jazz trumpet virtuoso of all time, will fill the air in Budapest through guest performances by four exemplary solo performers at the Budapest Jazz Club.

The Budapest Jazz Club has formed their own special ensemble in the big band genre under the name BJC Big Band, which is led by Dávid Csizmadia.

It was through his father’s reel-to-reel cassette deck that the young trumpeter became acquainted with the Canadian phenom Maynard Ferguson’s trumpet playing and the big band that he led.

“His characteristically powerful playing had a great impact on me, as did the big band’s sound, especially their rockier recordings”, he recalled. It was at that time that he decided that one day he would perform this fantastic repertoire, and this year was a great opportunity, for it is the 90th anniversary of Ferguson’s birth.

Photo: BJC Big Band

Csizmadia thought up the band together with his trombonist friend István Varga, who is the band’s production chief. Unlike the Budapest Jazz Orchestra or the Modern Art Orchestra, the formation is not always active, nonetheless they employ musicians from both bands. The Ferguson programme’s other key figure will be the British trumpeter Ryan Quickly. Interestingly enough, a collaborator for one of the Incognito group’s Budapest performances recommended Quigley for the job. Naturally, when performing Ferguson, it is a good thing to have several trumpeters ready to perform, so that the Brits Louis Dowdeswell and Andy Greenwood, along with the American Eric Miyashiro will also participate in this series, which will also take the stage in Austria.

17 October 2018, 6:30 pm and 9 pm Budapest Jazz Club

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Maynard Ferguson hailed from Montreal and began performing in the United States in the late 1940s after making his name at home in Canada. Soon after, he joined the big band led by his role model, Stan Kenton. Ferguson was famous for his unimaginably high but nonetheless precise playing, forming his own band not much later. During their wonderful first era, Ferguson’s big band was joined by the keyboardist Joe Zawinul, the pianist Jaki Byard, saxophonist Lanny Morgan, trombonist Slide Hampton and other stars from the jazz world. His second, more commercial formation was in the 1970s during which he performed hits such as “Birdland”, “Hey Jude” and “MacArthur Park”. Ferguson also composed the music for numerous successful films and television programmes. He led the third formation of his band, the Big Bop Nouveau Band, until his death in 2006. In addition to his bands, Ferguson also conducted at the closing ceremony for the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics and spent a lot of his time teaching young talents and being concerned with instrumental methodology.

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ROLAJAFUFU:

ROCK, LATIN, JAZZ, FUNK, FUSION The jazz-rock fusion professor performs in the BJC Text: Kornél Zipernovszky

Brown’s father was an officer in the United States military and was serving in France with his family when his son was born.

Brown began school in the United States, but his city of birth Chateauroux became a second home when at the age of 10 his family moved back to France, where he returns to regularly to this day. Brown’s mother was a Juilliard-educated singer who performed with the Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey-led swing bands.

Brown’s first close encounter with music occurred while he was still young, when he saw his mother working with a guitar technician, who he considered to be very cool. At first, he enjoyed televised performances by the Beatles, Ray Charles and Roy Orbison, but later on when he began playing his attention turned to Jimi Hendrix and the Monkees. During his father’s next deployment in South Korea, Dean performed together in a band with other military kids, and unexpectedly became a local pop-star, performing to full houses. This story lasted only a few years, however, for he finished high school in Virginia, making ever more frequent trips to California to learn tricks from the greats. Dean studied music at university, after which he continued at Berklee, where he graduated in guitar studies in 1979.

In an interview given to a guitar magazine, Dean stated that as a child he was told to try and understand the deeper connections in music, and to not only learn its more virtuosic elements. Dean has revealed that he learned a lot from three legendary albums. One of the albums was by John Coltrane, without whom modern jazz would not exist. Another was a recording of a club performance by the irresistible Wes Montgomery. The third album was The Inner Mounting Flame

by John McLaughlin’s formation, the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Dean tried to learn what the recording had to say and how it came together during his time in Boston. Of course, for students the years spent at Berklee are also a chance to perform with their teachers and stars. Tiger Okoshi invited Dean to play guitar together with his group. Although Okoshi is relatively less known today, what speaks volumes is that Dean’s predecessor in the group was Mike Stern, who in turn replaced Bill Frisell. Afterwards Dean moved to New York primarily to perform in blues bands with authentic musicians. He at first formed a rock fusion group together with Stern, after which the world-famous drummer Billy Cobham invited him to join his band. Dean has performed on and off with Cobham ever since. By this time Dean’s career increasingly resembled a “who’s who?” of the jazz-rock genre. In 1991 he began a col-

Photo: BJC.hu

Ever since Dean Brown completed his studies at the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston, he has always been the first name to call if a supergroup finds itself needing a jazz-rock guitarist. For this occasion Brown will arrive to Budapest fronting his own international band.

laboration with Marcius Miller and played alongside David Sanborn for nearly nine years. He also collaborated with the popular Brecker Brothers for four years, playing on the band’s reunion album, which was recorded during the 2013 tour, which was in turn followed by many other collaborations.

Dean, who also teaches, operates his own school with his own curriculum and is invited to hold master classes far and wide.

He has also had a successful solo career with the Dean Brown Band with whom he performs regularly. Dean also releases albums, tours and his songs are also covered by other bands.

His style remains to this day jazz-rock in the widest sense, since Dean has created his own blend of rock, Latin, jazz, funk and fusion. By combining these words into one we get RoLaJaFuFu¸ which is the title of his latest album. The quintet that will visit Budapest consists of American and Polish members: the famous drummer Marvin Smitty Smith and the young bass guitarist Linly Marthe form the rhythm section, while the melody is provided by Polish virtuosos. Bernard Maselj plays the vibraphone, while Mateusz Pliniewicz carries on the most beautiful jazz-rock traditions with an electric violin.

16 October 2018, 7pm and 9pm Budapest Jazz Club

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48 Photo: Eszter Gordon

City Guide Hotels continue to open one after the other in Hungary. At the beginning of the summer, the Hotel Clark opened to guests at one of Budapest’s most beautiful locations on the Buda side of the Chain Bridge, with its rooftop terrace offering panoramic views onto Pest.

In late autumn a new family-friendly type of hotel, the Hotel Meininger, will open in Budapest to fill an unserved niche in the market. Pleasing to the eye from an architectural perspective, it will be located next to the Great Market Hall, a tourist favourite.

Plenty of excitement awaits local and international visitors this autumn. Those spending more than a weekend in Budapest can sign up for a cooking class or a tea tasting, both of which are also available in English.

Visitors can also pay a visit to the Tipton Eyeworks showroom, which features upcycled luxury eyewear made from vinyl records, film strips and coffee capsules that are worn by famous celebrities and musicians around the world.

A new hotel will open this autumn adjacent to the Great Market Hall

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WITH A VIEW ONTO GELLÉRT HILL The Meininger Hotel Budapest opens its doors this November Text: András Oláh

In addition to businesspeople and families, backpackers and groups can all find something to suit their needs at a good price alongside great services at Meininger Hotels.

With its established recipe for success, the chain operates more than two dozen hotels in ten countries, and will open their first hotel in central Budapest in November.

The Meininger Hotel Budapest has 755 beds in 184 rooms over eight floors, and according to their international principles, they are located centrally in the city near one of its most popular landmarks, in this case the Great Market Hall. With great public transportation links but in an otherwise quiet neighbourhood, the hotel on Csarnok Square has a diverse assortment of guests, due to which it is prepared to offer solutions to a wide variety of needs.

The hotel building and its public spaces are an exciting and modern work, featuring vibrant colours with simple and unadorned furnishings that primarily target a younger age group. With this age group in mind, a separate game zone has been created in one of the hotel’s halls, featuring billiards and foosball, as well as board and card games, great for young guests and families alike.

Separate apartments exist for families that include cots. Children between the ages of 6 and 12 can enjoy hotel services at significantly reduced rates. Backpackers and student groups meanwhile can stay in dorm rooms with private bathrooms. For them the hotel provides luggage storage facilities and a public kitchen free to use, as well as washing and drying machines. In addition to this, the hotel also features traditional single and twin bed rooms, a bar and lounge, parking facilities, and a rooftop terrace with an amazing view of Gellért Hill, especially at sunset. Wi-Fi and a 24-hour reception, important for business travellers, are also included.

The ambitious hotel chain, with just under 20 years of existence, opened its first hotel in Berlin’s Meininger Straße. The company began to expand internationally in the latter half of the 2000s and opened its first hotels at London’s Hyde Park and near Vienna’s Hauptbahnhof.

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CIT Y GUIDE Within Germany, the chain is set to expand further with new properties in Munich, Berlin and Hamburg.

From 2010, Meininger steadily became owned by the British Holidaybreak tourism company. With this the chain became a part of the storied Cox & Kings Group. By blending youthful momentum with a century’s worth of experience at the parent company and a strong financial base, Meininger has successfully solidified its position. By the end of the decade, the company will have a presence in every key European city. This year alone they expanded into Amsterdam, Berlin, Milan, Munich, Rome and St. Petersburg, and of course to Budapest.

By the end of 2018, Meininger will have 14,000 beds in 26 hotels across 11 European countries, which is set to increase with another 10 hotels over the next three years. France, Sweden and

Portugal are the next countries planned for entry, as a result of which capacity is expected to increase by another 5,000.

GENTLY WAVING LINES The Meininger Hotel Budapest Architects: Bence Vadász and Zoltán Miklós Text: Eszter Götz

Budapest’s newest hotel was erected at this location, the first in Hungary from the Meininger Hotels chain, which has properties across Europe.

The decision to use this location was because its attributes are the same as those that the chain has found attracts its target audience: youthful, dynamic, exciting, in the thick of the city, nonetheless being in a quiet environment from where Budapest’s most important tourist destinations can be easily reached. Gellért Hill and the Technical University’s 200-year-old buildings can be seen across the river in Buda, while right by one can see the Liberty Bridge, the Bálna’s glass structure, the Budapest Music Center, Corvinus University’s fin de siècle and new buildings, as

Photo: Eszter Gordon

A unique spectacle has appeared slightly offset from the Danube on the Pest side behind the Great Market Hall. Those who walk the length of the Market Hall beneath its steel girders after entering at Fôvám Square or take the side streets next to the market that still evoke its 19th century atmosphere will find themselves at a triangle-shaped square. This is an area for respite among the characteristic four-story classicist apartment buildings of the district, and features a park, benches, a playground and a view onto the Danube.

well as the former Salt House that has been restored to its former glory.

For years one side of the square was dominated by a large brick building featuring only a small sliver of windows, which was a transformer building erected in the 1970s. The new hotel will cover part of this old building, thereby providing the square with a far more exciting sight: the five sto51

ries above the ground floor and the two recessed rooftop levels that appear as an independent block all have gently waving shapes. The hotel’s façade features undulating lines that vary from each floor and each side that simulate the rippling flow of a river, thereby bringing the Danube onto the square. The design is evocative of Gaudi’s residential buildings in Barcelona, but at the same time contains brutalist elements, since the façade consists of raw concrete. The windows on each floor are separated from each other by concrete surfaces, with its unrefined surface making an impact that is organic instead of stern. The ribbons of windows between these concrete bands are just as contiguous, as the individual window panes feature a narrow metal frame, but from the outside it all appears as one, with no suggestion of where the rooms are divided. In truth the chain’s philosophy is projected onto the street: it is not independent units, but a common space, where at night the concrete bands are interspersed with vivid colours from the room interiors painted in varying colours.

The largest part of the two-story lounge is grandly formed, placed into a curved frame, and reveals itself to the street from behind a translucent glass façade. Stepping through the dual entry the lobby’s space opens in two directions: the bar to the right, above which the offices necessary for operations and smaller conference rooms are located, while to the left visitors will find the reception desk 52

and restaurant, as well as the elevators and stairwells that lead to the rooms. Above the reception level the floors also branch out in two directions, leaving room in the middle for a smaller atrium with plants, so that the rooms that open onto the curved hallways also receive some natural light and greenery. At the top of the five floors an additional two, much smaller levels are located, with individual rooms surrounded by terraces that provide an amazing panoramic view of Gellért Hill and the Danube.

The atmosphere of the rooms is faithful to the chain’s image of being youthful, colourful and joyous. Large, contiguous red, blue, yellow and orange wall surfaces alternate each other, and in certain spots even a matryoshka doll’s details appear.

In several of the room types we can find bunk beds of varying heights, although nowhere do we run into the “coolly elegant” or “moderately refined” styles typical of downtown hotels, which in fact provide a distant and indifferent attitude. Utilising loud colours and simple and practical furnishings, the place feels at home in every sense of the word, without feeling nostalgic. The hotel provides exactly what its target audience desires: a pleasant and relaxing but nonetheless vivacious partner for a short but intense Budapest experience. The noted architects Bence Vadász and Zoltán Miklós love to compare the building to a uniquely shaped river pebble, which we guard dearly as one of the finest memories from our travels.

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AN AFTERNOON WITH THE FAILED HOUSEWIVES English-language cooking courses in Újlipótváros Texts: Júlia Csikós • Photos: Failed Housewives of Budapest

Discovering unique restaurants and dishes is probably the aim of every tourist anywhere, and Budapest certainly offers a rich selection in this regard. If a person is honestly interested in exploring the culinary secrets of a new country, then there are ways to enjoy a more immersive and personal experience than one would receive from a standard adventure via the hospitality industry. For example, it’s more than worth spending some time with a visit to a one-off cooking class.

While guests prepare the dishes themselves, they are enriched with countless details regarding the ingredients, cooking traditions and culinary history. Our colleague from Budapest’s Finest visited Lujza Juhász and Sophie Szilágyi’s kitchen in Újlipótváros (District XIII), where with a wonderful group she spent an afternoon cooking and tasting dishes, wine and palinka accompanied by many entertaining stories.

Lujza and Sophie founded the “Failed Housewives of Budapest” company in early 2018.

Both come from Jewish-Hungarian families with deep roots in the area, and over the years the decision to introduce family recipes to a wider audience in some form grew inside them. Following several ventures in theatre, hospitality and marketing, the young women decided that the time had come to immerse themselves into what they truly love: sharing the joy of cooking together with 53

Classic Hungarian chicken paprikás

from the Failed Housewives’ kitchen Served best with nokedli (spätzle) and cucumber salad!

Ingredients: (serves 4-6) • goose fat • 2-3 medium-sized onions (a mix of white and red onions, diced finely) • 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or a combination of the two (diced) – set the skin aside, we’ll use it later • 1 bell pepper (without seeds, diced into larger pieces) • 1 large tomato (peeled, diced into larger pieces) • 1 tablespoon ground paprika (sweet or spicy, but a blend is the best!)

• Salt and pepper according to taste • 1 cup (250 ml) sour cream

others. With four broken engagements and a divorce between the pair, the girlfriends, with their characteristic humour, refer to themselves as “failed housewives”, despite nothing being further from the truth.

With cooking programmes held in the morning and at lunchtime, we chose the latter, and Sophie and Lujza waited for us at the central meeting location. From there we strolled roughly half an hour to Sophie’s home, walking along the most beautiful streets of District XIII as Sophie told us about the area’s history and traditions. What we learned was that inside the Bauhaus-style buildings on Pozsonyi Road characteristic of the area, the bathrooms included a separate faucet that provided thermal waters from Margaret Island. She also showed us the Yellow-Star Houses from World War II, into which Budapest’s Jewish population was segregated during the war.

The entire group soon felt at home in Sophie’s kitchen. We began the tasting with a sample of homemade apricot pálinka made from her parents’ orchard, after which we sat at our table to taste the cold dishes served as appetisers. The board featured Hungarian delicacies: sausages with paprika, winter salami, peasant ham, goose crackling and a variety of parenyica and goat cheeses. These goodies proved to be excellent “emergency assistance” while lunch was prepared. The pre-lunch bites were washed down with a delightful rosé champagne and cucumber-infused lemonade, after which we tied our aprons 54

and got to work. With Lujza and Sophie’s direction, we were soon cooking chicken paprikás, preparing the cucumber salad and the nokedli (spätzle), and also began to prepare the mákosguba (poppy seed dough) dessert.

While we cooked, our hosts told us of how the menu – depending on the season and occasion – can consist of Jewish or Hungarian dishes. Chicken paprikás is always popular, being a traditional Hungarian dish for over 150 years. Its preparation is uncomplicated and does not require much time, and the traditional local ingredients also increase its popularity.

By the time lunch was ready, it was mid-late-afternoon, but we still had plenty of time to enjoy eating the wonderful meal that we had just prepared in the sunlit dining room as a part of our three-and-a-half-hour activity. A light white cuvée from Eger made an excellent pairing for our meal. After lunch and with the recipe cards for our dishes in our hands, we said goodbye to the absolutely not failed housewives.

The small-group cooking courses can currently be booked through Airbnb and require no previous kitchen experience.

The maximum size for groups is eight, which in addition to the friendly atmosphere ensures that the hosts can comfortably assist in every step of the cooking. Menus are agreed upon in advance with the guests, and any allergies or dietary requirements are catered for. Fresh ingredients are purchased

CIT Y GUIDE Preparation: Warm the goose fat in a large cooking pot, then sweat the onions until they are translucent on a medium heat. Remove the pot from the stove and add the ground pepper, mixing so that its aroma is released in the hot fat. The paprika will not burn since the onion has released some moisture. (A handheld mixer can be used to further puree the mix, but this is not necessary).

Add the chicken and the skin and continue cooking on a lower temperature. Add salt and the diced pepper and tomato. Cook covered for approximately 30 minutes (we can add a splash of red wine at the end to further flavour the meat). Once the chicken is cooked through, spice with black pepper and add the sour cream. To prevent curdling, take a tablespoon of the sauce and first mix it with the sour cream in a separate dish, before adding it to the pot.

by Sophie and Lujza from the nearby Lehel Market, where the farmers recognise the smiling young women from a distance.

“Together with Sophie we dreamed up a cooking class with an honest and positive atmosphere. A perfectly functioning and streamlined kitchen would be foreign to us and that was not our goal. What could we recommend instead of that? Group

cooking with a friendly atmosphere, where guests leave with full stomachs, plenty of useful knowledge, and wonderful memories”, Lujza summarised.

Airbnb: airbnb.com/experiences/153138 Facebook: facebook.com/failedhousewives

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A CUP OF CHINA, INDIA OR SOUTH AFRICA Tasting and appreciating tea in Budapest

The tradition of drinking tea originated in China and arrived to Hungary via the Netherlands and the Holy Roman Empire. Although this new drink was at first surrounded by suspicion, by the end of the 18th century it became fashionable in elegant circles to drink tea following a meal.

Text: Júlia Csikós • Photo: Eszter Gordon Budapest has quite a few authentic tea houses awaiting guests with a wide selection and quality ingredients. A tea-tasting with a trained guide, such as Marianna Varga, Hungary’s only tea sommelier, nonetheless provides new knowledge and an everlasting experience.

Marianna, a gardener engineer by training, learned the fine methods for preparing tea during a six year stay in London, which is no surprise considering she worked for a company with one of the British capital’s longest histories in the tea trade. Returning home, she decided to establish her own company: Teaprogramok (Tea Programmes) has since become a vibrant enterprise, which focuses on organising tea tastings and presentations, teaching, tea sales, and even growing its own tea.

The first item in the two-hour tasting was a hand-knotted Chinese flowering tea, which Marianna prepared in a glass pitcher, so that we could watch as the ball of dried tea opened like a flower in response to the hot water. As the tea brewed, our host told us of the various tea varieties: white, green and black tea are all produced from the camellia sinensis tea plant’s buds and leaves harvested at differing times with various methods.

As such, brews prepared from other plants, such as herbal teas, or the popular Rooibos and Mate “teas” belong to the “false teas” group. Each variety requires different brewing times and water temperatures, and has different healing properties, so we need to take care not to burn or oversoak the tea depending on the variety.

For the tasting each participant received their own Chinese tea set, which consists of small porcelain cups and a small kettle and filter. According to Chinese philosophy, each sip of tea must be perfect. In the flowering tea the green tea’s fresh base flavour dominated, which was delicately complemented with a jasmine aroma. When harvested, the fresh tea leaves are laid out and covered with jasmine flowers for 24 hours, so that the leaves will absorb the jasmine oil into themselves.

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Our second tasting was a light white tea, which is prepared from the bud of the tea plant. Since it had yet to open and was untouched by sunlight, this tea characteristically has a subtle and light flavour, with only traces of caffeine. If we wish for a more bolder flavour, but want similar physiological effects, then it is worth trying early harvest green teas, for the spring leaves have much higher levels of antioxidants.

A black tea from the Indian state of Assam followed. This region is one of the largest tea-producing regions in the country, and primarily produces black teas. Following the harvest, the leaves are copper red, with the later dark tone the result of a 24-hour-long fermentation process.

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Following the true teas, the tea sommelier introduced a Mate “tea” produced from the leaves of the Yerba Mate tree native to South America. The leaves’ appearance and flavour is similar to green tea, and along with its high caffeine content it can calm the nerves, but the plant has no relation to the tea plant.

Our next tasting was a “tea” prepared from the South African Rooibos shrub. This drink with a caramel-vanilla flavour is completely caffeine free, but it possesses a very high mineral content. It can be easily mixed with other varieties and is exceptionally suited for spicing with pink peppercorns, cinnamon or ginger.

To round out the tasting, Marianna presented our group with a truly unique variety: a 5-year-old pu’er tea. This dried tea is condensed into shapes, and the small balls can be fermented for up to 30 years. Pu’er tea is only grown in China’s Yunnan province, and the tasting experience was similar to a fermented, full-bodied red wine’s: it has a bold flavour, is slightly earthy, with mushroom and oil characteristics. The tea can be brewed 10-12 times.

The first few brews are usually too raw, but the fourth, fifth and sixth brews are quite exciting, transporting us into a complex world of flavours.

At the end of the tasting each participant received a small tea bag to use for mixing their own blends. More than twenty types of ingredients were on the table, with spices, herbs and flowers in addition to the teas.

Marianna Varga not only hosts tastings, but is also a tea ambassador for Hungary. Unfortunately, tea plants cannot survive in temperate climates, consequently every European country must import its tea from other continents. For this reason, it was considered a huge breakthrough when the Dutch horticultural expert Johan Jansen bred a cold-resistant variety after eight years of experimentation.

Jansen trademarked the Dutch-grown tea under the name “Tea by Me” and recruited tea ambassadors across Europe so that more and more countries could grow tea themselves. Szent István University of Gödöllô joined Marianna’s project, and this year the first experimental tea plant was sown, with the first harvest expected for the spring of 2019.

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Tea lovers visiting Budapest could not find a better way to spend a few hours than at a pleasant afternoon tea tasting.

The tastings organised for small or private groups can be held in Hungarian or English, with registration and booking available through the teaprogramok.hu website.

Autumn-winter dates: 14 September, 10 October, 15 November, and 7 December.

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UPCYCLED HANDMADE LUXURY EYEWEAR Text: Júlia Csikós • Photos: Tipton Budapest

Zachary Tipton Milaskey is truly a citizen of the world. Born in the United States of Hungarian descent, Zack has lived in Idaho, Seattle, France, Pécs as well as Budapest for the past 15 years. The handmade glasses that bear his middle name are all manufactured in Hungary. Although he has countless international celebrities and famous musicians among his clients, his showroom in Irányi Street welcomes all those who enter through its doors. This spring Tipton Eyeworks launched a collection jointly with Nespresso to highlight the importance of recycling, and this summer saw the world premiere of his collection in partnership with the legendary hard rock band AC/DC. 58

CIT Y GUIDE Zack Milaskey was a young university student when he began looking for stylish but affordable glasses due to his rapidly deteriorating eyesight. Since he was unable to find frames to his liking, he instead built a pair for himself, using a vinyl record that his father had thrown out. This was the prototype for what would become the Vinylize collection, which was soon followed by newer glasses made for his friends and acquaintances.

Alongside his sculptor father, the young Zack soon learned the joys of creating with his hands. Always tinkering in the garage, he trained in carpentry next to his high school studies. “When I was young I worked extensively alongside my father and I

still thank him for the many useful experiences that I gained.

He taught me to love objects. At the same time, he was truly an artist, and I suffered from this: creating things is wonderful, but if a person cannot sell their products, they’ll find themselves in a really difficult situation”, Zack recalls, who later studied economics and accounting at university.

He founded Tipton Eyeworks together with his brother Zoltán who lives in the United States, and who to this day handles the company’s overseas operations while Zack has permanently

settled in Hungary after travelling widely throughout Europe.

“I caught the train a lot. I would arrive in a city, stay at the cheapest hostel, and go from one optician’s shop to another’s.

After a while my ‘glasses radar’ became fine-tuned, and I was quickly able to tell who would be interested in buying our wares.” With this in mind, Zack prepared a metal briefcase to showcase his designs. It took years of work so that today Tipton Vinylize glasses are worn by famous musicians such as Sir Elton John, Bono, Elvis Costello and Robbie Williams.

Zack swears that there’s no secret recipe, just a huge amount of perseverance and flexibility. “It’s a common mistake that if we make something, we quickly move on to the next project. That approach does not allow us to look back to ensure

that everything that we invented works fine, or if it needs some changes. That which does not develop or advance us pulls us backwards”, Zack shared his philosophy.

Today Tipton Eyeworks has contacts with 400 active retailers, and their frames can be purchased in all corners of the world.

Each year 12,000 Tipton glasses find new owners, but Zack is not resting on his laurels. The showroom in Irányi Street was only opened a year ago in the autumn of 2017. Manufacturing the parts for the glasses is performed in Pécs (nat59

tiptonbudapest.com vinylize.com cinematiqeyewear.com

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urally by hand), with assembly work, polishing and any final changes made in Budapest. Visitors to the showroom can look into the workshop to see this stage of the production process. “This is how I imagined the showroom to look like. In the Middle Ages, we could see how objects were prepared, since everyone seemingly made things for themselves, but the industrial revolution and specialisations did away with that. I feel that in the present a need still exists for this. Our workshop events are quite popular, for example. We can hold these with a minimum of two participants who, together with professional guidance, perform the final work on their own frames, thereby also allowing them to make small customisations.”

Tipton’s Cinematiq collection debuted in March 2018. The transparent frames hold 16 mm film frames, so that each piece effectively has a unique appearance. One of the first stars to wear these frames was Antonio Banderas. The Nespresso collection launched two months later consists exclusively of sunglasses. Nespresso, who has been researching for years the best ways to recycle their coffee capsules, expressly intended for the collection to act as an awareness campaign, and Zack was more than happy to design the sunglasses. “Aluminium is one of the most multi-faceted materials that we are aware of. It can hermetically seal coffee, preserve its aroma, and is completely reusable.” Over the years the capsules have been used to produce various items of jewellery,

In addition to frames, the showroom’s walls are decorated with photos of world-famous stars wearing various Tipton frames. The unique and decorative gift boxes can also be seen next to the entrance, such as a couple of frames from the new AC/DC collection packaged with the vinyl record that they were made from. “The use of vinyl records was not some form of Eureka moment. The material has good attributes and I had a few extra records lying about, so that it just simply worked.”

pocket knives and also ballpoint pens, but none of these could be said to have been a huge success. As Zack recalled, “Back in the late 1990s I did not set out to recycle things, I just used what was available and cheap. Today we upcycle hundreds of kilos worth of records… Unfortunately, upcycling is still somewhat of a touchy subject, since customers believe that the product will look just like the waste from which they were made. This spring the Nespresso sunglasses available in four different colours proved, however, that upcycling is quite a fashionable thing.”

Beyond his success with the frames, Zack has no interest in expanding into other fashion or upcycled products. “I have no plans to expand my product portfolio. I feel that a good and strong brand is the type that we can explain in a single sentence. If we cannot, then we weaken the brand’s authenticity. I don’t want to become a Swiss army knife: good for everything, but great for nothing. The one thing that I’m good at is what I would like to do really well.” According to him, eyewear design still holds tremendous opportunities.

Although his glasses can be purchased nearly everywhere around the world, for now Zack has no plans to open another store in addition to the showroom in Budapest. He loves Budapest, where he lives with his family, and the parks and green spaces hold a special place in his heart. And it cannot go unmentioned that proudly inscribed on the inside of the eyeglass temples for each pair of Tiptons are the words “Handmade in Hungary”.

CIT Y GUIDE

FROM TWO WHEELS TO FOUR More than 1,500 apple-green MOL Bubi bicycles can be rented across Budapest by both residents and tourists alike. Those yearning for a more comfortable mode of transportation than cycling, however, can partake in the MOL Limo community car-sharing service that was launched in the capital in January 2018.

Launched with a fleet of 300 vehicles, a third of the Volkswagen up! cars are electronic. The gasoline-powered vehicles are also environmentally friendly and were specifically designed with city transportation in mind, being easy to handle and are also energy efficient. Their service area is currently 60 square kilometres, which in addition to the central districts also includes the inner parts of the popular outer districts (such as Óbuda, Angyalföld, Zugló and Újbuda).

The goal is to expand the service area to Budapest’s municipal boundaries by 2020, through doubling the amount of cars as well as by steadily increasing the percentage of electronic vehicles. In addition to the necessary developments in Budapest, as a member of the NEXT-E consortium, MOL will develop a high capacity electronic charging network in the region. The system will consist of 252 facilities ranging from the Czech border to the Black Sea and the Adriatic by 2020.

The service can be used through the mollimo.hu website or by downloading the app from the App Store or Google Play and

then registering. The registration fee is 5,900 forints (= C18).

In addition to the monthly fee of 990 forints (= C3), regular users can drive the vehicles for 66 forints per minute. There is no monthly fee for occasional users, but their rate will be 77 forints per minute. Users do not need to buy parking tickets for the vehicles regardless of whether they are electronic or fuel-based.

“The experiences of cities that have pioneered community vehicles is that a single car can replace five or even up to 10 cars.

This solution is a perfect tool to relieve traffic and congestion in cities, all the while making a positive impact on the environment”, the operators stated, citing Vienna as an example. The Austrian capital has three large car-sharing operators with 1,500 vehicles, of which 1,400 have traditional internal combustion engines, which according to the city’s own measurements, reduced carbon dioxide emission by 7,000 tonnes in 2015.

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PROGRAMME

CORNER Music competitions in the spotlight 10-16 September 2018 Liszt Academy of Music Fifty-nine women and 35 men will compete at the Liszt Academy of Music between 10-16 September at the III International Éva Marton Singing Competition. In addition to the ten Hungarian and numerous Russian and Ukrainian singers, participants will also arrive from Peru, Japan, South Africa and Finland, with young artists representing 31 countries in total. The four different rounds of the competition as well as the gala concert prize ceremony will be held at the Liszt Academy. The most exciting moments of the competition will also be streamed online, making it available to everyone around the world.

25 November 2018 Liszt Academy of Music The first Bartók World Competition and Festival organised for violinists was an international success for both the Liszt Academy and the young artists who participated. This year the competition will challenge composers. For participants, the biggest draw may be the jury members themselves, which includes such noted contemporary composers as Thomas Adès, Chaya Czernowin and Unsuk Chin, who will work together with Gyula Fekete, who chairs Liszt Academy’s Composition Department. The prize-winning compositions will be performed at a gala concert on 25 November by the pianists János Balázs, Balázs Fülei and Dénes Várjon.

With 500 on the stage Müpa Budapest Béla Bartók National Concert Hall Birthdays have to be celebrated properly, and especially so if it’s the 75th. Consequently, the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra will take the stage with 500(!) performers at Müpa Budapest’s Béla Bartók National Concert Hall on 8 November to celebrate themselves.

Photo: Felvégi Andrea

8 November 2018

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Ernő Dohnányi, who among other roles was also Hungarian Radio’s music director, founded the legendary Studio 6 in 1935 with Georg von Békésy, who would go on to win a Nobel Prize. Once there was a studio, it needed an orchestra. The orchestra premiered with Dohnányi conducting on 8 October 1943 in the City Theatre – today the Erkel Theatre. On 8 October Hungarian works will be performed in the Liszt Academy in the presence of the orchestra’s still living former members. The event on 8 November, however, will be for the wider public.

At first Lully’s Te Deum will be performed, which will enchant listeners with its baroque pomp. The concert’s second half will feature Berlioz’s Te Deum conducted by János Kovács. The 60 string players will be joined by 33 woodwinds, seven percussionists, eight harpists, a tenor soloist, a mixed choir with 150 singers, and a 200-member children’s choir, with the Radio’s Choir and Children’s Choir among them.

CIT Y GUIDE

Timeless songs – from metal to classical Barba Negra Track

Winger first gained fame in the 1980s through the metal scene as Alice Cooper’s bassist, and his first solo album This Conversation Seems Like a Dream was released in 1997. He released his second solo album Songs from the Ocean Floor in 2000, in which he worked through his grief after losing his wife in a car accident. Recently, Winger has received wide acclaim for his ventures into classical music. The choreographer Christopher Wheeldon planned his ballet Ghosts to Winger’s music, and Winger later composed a four-part work entitled "Conversations with Nijinsky", intended to celebrate the life of ballet dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky.

Photo: @KipWingerOfficial

17 September 2018

The Grammy-nominated Kip Winger, known for his solo records, as the frontman for the band Winger and for his classical compositions, will arrive to Budapest on 17 September. The singer-songwriter’s musical career has seen him perform in a variety of styles from progressive metal to glam rock and acoustic and classic music. For this occasion, Winger will perform an acoustic set at Barba Negra Track to perform his timeless classics.

A rarity on the stage: La fanciulla del West 1 December 2018 Erkel Theatre Puccini would stand on the podium in a hypothetical opera composing competition. His compositions La bohème, Madama Butterfly and Manon Lescaut can be found in the repertoires of all of the world’s great opera houses. The composer’s later work La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West) is nonetheless rarely performed, for which there is no logical reason.

What is certain is that the performance requires great acting abilities in addition to the musical perfection required of the three main roles. From 1 December this opera in three acts will be performed at the Erkel Theatre. Puccini saw David Belasco’s play during his visit to New York in 1907, after which he decided to compose music for it and create an unusual wild west love story for the opera. The play proved to be an excellent basis for the work, as Minnie’s character fits well alongside Puccini’s heroines: she is guided by love and passion, as a result of which she is not afraid to risk her life. The piece will be directed by Vasily Barkhatov, who is regularly engaged to work all over Russia and Europe.

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Photo: MTI archív

PROGRAMME

CORNER

A Bach organ recital in the Hold Street Reformed Church up to 14 December

in the Hold Street Reformed Church The organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach, one of music history’s most significant composers, will be performed on 14 occasions leading up to 14 December in Hold Street at Budapest’s German-speaking Lutheran - Reformed parish church.

The artistic director for the concerts will be the internationally acclaimed Liszt and Prima Prize-winning organist László Fassang, with the events organised

by Violin Travel. What will make the series unique is that all of Bach’s organ works will be performed on the first organ in Budapest that blends the sounds of the instruments used by the composer himself, and which physically resembles organs from the 18th century. The church’s history reaches back to the 19th century, when numerous intellectuals immigrated to Budapest from Western Europe. Noted Germanspeaking Protestant families, such as the Hagemacher, Dreher and Ganz families arrived from Germany, Switzerland or the Netherlands. They were the ones, who, together with the Biberauer-Bodoky family, founded the first Reformed assembly in Pest in 1859, which built the neogothic church in Budapest’s Hold Street in 1878.

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A grand railway vehicle spectacle in Budapest 7-9 September 2018 Hungarian Railway History Park A three-day International Railway Vehicle Parade will be organised from 7-9 September in Budapest at the Hungarian Railway History Park, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Hungarian State Railways, as well as the 25th anniversary of the Railways’ nostalgia company. The event, in addition to the two important anniversaries, will provide visitors with the opportunity to become acquainted with Europe and Hungary’s railway past, present and future. Guests arriving for the event consist of domestic and international transportation companies, railway companies and clubs. Visitors will be able to see locomotives, multiple unit trains and amphibious vehicles. According to the plans, not only will the Hungarian Postal Service’s first mail carriage be exhibited, but so will several steam locomotives, such as an original Truman, an Árpád railbus, as well as the beloved Swedish Nohab locomotives. The event will be accompanied by various other programmes, with more details available on the park’s website at vasuttortenetipark.hu/en

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