Your guide to classical music online

Liszt Academy: A New Century, A Renewed Building

ClassicsToday

Budapest, July 5, 2013—On 22 October 2013, the anniversary of the birth of Ferenc Liszt, Budapest regains one of the defining buildings of its cityscape, the Liszt Academy. In addition to the music and musicology teaching at tertiary level, the reopening marks the moment that the university launches its own cultural and concert organization activities – under the name Liszt Academy Concert Centre – in the historical building on Liszt Ferenc Square.

One of the most impressive examples of Central European Art Nouveau architecture, this has been a bastion of music teaching and at the same time Hungarian concert life since 1907. The foundations were actually laid by Ferenc Liszt, although he never lived to see the inauguration of this imposing structure. Many great names started from here: Ernő Dohnányi, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, and in their wake György Cziffra, Annie Fischer, György Solti and György Ligeti began their careers here.

The Grand Hall, restored to its original splendour and bearing the stylistic flourishes of Hungarian Art Nouveau, is famed as a concert venue, and not only because of its decorative elements reminiscent of the Dionysian and Apollonian symbolic system; it has been world-renowned for more than a century due to its unequalled acoustics. In the course of reconstruction the Chamber Hall has also been reborn: with its orchestral pit created to the original plans and modern stage machinery, this will be a unique venue for chamber opera performances and ensemble concerts. As a consequence partly of the characteristics of the building, the world’s leading artists have returned, time and time again, to its stage over the past century.

Liszt Academy Concert Centre – The first season

On 22 October 2013, the anniversary of the birthday of Ferenc Liszt, a Grand Opening Gala will take place to mark the reopening of the Liszt Academy. The first public concert (25 October 2013) jointly organized with the Symphony Orchestra of the Hungarian Radio and entitled Jeney 70, pays tribute to Zoltán Jeney, professor emeritus at the Liszt Academy, with works by Petrassi, J.S. Bach and Zoltán Jeney under the baton of Zoltán Kocsis.

 

In the wake of the reopening, the programmes of the Liszt Academy will serve the public to the very highest professional level and under a common concept. The opportunity presented by the unification of education and concert life is without precedent on a world scale. The Liszt Academy Concert Centre can build at one and the same time on the knowledge accumulated over 138 years, up-and-coming talent, the vast experience of the teaching staff and the prestige derived from an unparalleled concert tradition.

The new programme is structured towards this conjunction, as well as the acoustics of the Grand Hall that faithfully mediate the tonality of symphony orchestras with crystal clear clarity while not omitting the intimate detailing of solo or chamber concerts. Together with the solo concerts parading an especially rich array of world star pianists and jazz musicians, one of the main roles will be chamber music, which is becoming increasingly important on international stages. Audiences will experience the joy of discovery at concerts featuring not only the greats but also the students and professors of the Liszt Academy itself.

 Piano recitals – The legend lives on

The legendary piano recitals of the Liszt Academy are hallmarked by a line of master musicians from Ernő Dohnányi to Béla Bartók, from Annie Fischer and Géza Anda to Sviatoslav Richter. The series “Black and White Colours” opens on 27 October with Dezső Ránki, Edit Klukon and Fülöp Ránki Jnr. playing works by J.S. Bach, Couperin and Liszt as well as Barnabás Dukay, who works closely with the Ránki family.

The Budapest Festival Orchestra, appearing at the Liszt Academy with a regular concert offering, introduce an exciting world star to the Grand Hall: the Argentinian Martha Argerich, on 7, 8, 9, 10 November. On 17 November, during an evening entitled Pianist Generations, remarkable interpreters of the Hungarian piano tradition that can be traced back to Liszt (Tamás Vásáry, Kálmán Dráfi, Gergely Bogányi) take to the stage, while the next generation is represented by Ivett Gyöngyösi, László Váradi and Zsolt Medgyesi.

The Géza Anda Festival pays tribute to an astonishing pianist who, during the second third of the 20th century, was considered the most significant performer of Bartók and Mozart works in the world, and who was dubbed the troubadour of the piano by Wilhelm Furtwängler. On 29 November, the first night of the four-concert festival, winners of the 2012 Géza Anda Piano Competition, Zurich, perform, to be followed by Alexei Volodin, Filippo Gamba and Dénes Várjon, all former prizewinners who have fashioned major careers for themselves. The piano series is wound up in 2013 with concerts by Gergely Bogányi on 13 December and Balázs Szokolay on 19 December.

Jazz and folk music – regular guests on the programme

One of the characteristics of the Liszt Academy is that not only is classical music represented to the highest level at the university, but jazz and folk music, too. This is reflected in the programme. On 5 November, jazz piano star Brad Mehldau gives his first solo concert in Budapest at the Liszt Academy. The appearance of guitar genius Ferenc Snétberger on 14 December is interesting – one of his last Budapest solo recitals was held in the Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy, which was then about to be closed down for restoration. Jazz megastar Chick Corea will give what promises to be a concert classic on 13 May 2014. The cream of Hungarian folk music, highly rated internationally, is represented at the concert entitled Great Christmas Folk Music on 28 December, showcasing Andrea Navratil, Kálmán Balogh, András Berecz and the band Szeret.

Chamber Music – Tuned for Great Hall

The Liszt Academy has chosen to be a trend shaper rather than a trend follower in that, parallel with the expansion of chamber music experienced globally, and keeping one step ahead of the competition, it has invited exponents practising one of the purest and most concentrated forms of collective music-making to the Grand Hall.

The first concert of this genre is given by Kelemen Quartet, who are associated with the Liszt Academy at several levels (3 November), while Péter Frankl and his fellow musicians András Keller, Péter Bársony, István Várdai and György Lakatos take to the stage on 25 November. The renowned formations keep coming in the first half of next year as well: Yevgeny Korolyov and Keller Quartet, the world-famous Takács Quartet and Kristóf Baráti. On the evening of 7 April it will be the turn of Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis and Dénes Várjon.

 Chamber Hall – The forgotten opera stage

The Chamber Hall regains its original function with an orchestral pit, flies and the very latest stage technology. With the increasing popularity of operas and chamber operas, the extraordinary characteristics of the venue will be easily utilizable. The first opera to be performed in the Chamber Hall is Mozart’s Magic Flute directed by András Almási-Tóth, with artistic direction by Éva Marton. Dániel Varró translated the libretto, and the conductor will be Turkish-born Ertüngealp Alpaslan, who graduated from the Liszt Academy. Performances are scheduled for 6, 8, 11, 14, 17 and 20 December. Furthermore, the Chamber Hall hosts the Liszt Academy song recitals; Judit Németh is the first artist to perform, on 18 December.

Naturally, vocal music is not excluded from the Grand Hall: the audience has the opportunity to enjoy a joint performance by Andrea Rost and Kálmán Oláh on 12 January 2014. This genre is further enhanced with a musical delicacy put forward by Chanticleer vocal ensemble, returning and acclaimed visitors to Budapest, in their programme She said/He said on 23 January 2014.

Symphony orchestra in residence – Concerto Budapest

András Keller, head of the Liszt Academy Chamber Workshop, has already played a significant role in the life of the Liszt Academy as a charismatic professor of the university. From autumn 2013, Concerto Budapest will function as the orchestra in residence of the Liszt Academy; the symphonic repertoire is primarily represented by performances in the Grand Hall, led by András Keller with his trademark fastidiousness. Their first concert on 1 November will be a performance of works by Bach, Richard Strauss and Mozart given together with the New Liszt Ferenc Chamber Chorus and Andrea Rost. They will also have a key role to play in education, since Concerto, acting as a kind of incubator, will participate in the creation of university productions, while students will have the chance to acquire the skills and experience of orchestral playing in the ‘hot seats’ of a professional orchestra.

On the Spot – introducing the departments

One of the principal tasks of the Liszt Academy Concert Centre will be to provide the opportunity for the most outstanding students and professors of the various departments of the university to introduce themselves. The first concert of the On the Spot series created in this spirit is on 6 November, when the Folk Music Department presents its talents, on 9 November it is the turn of the 115-year-old Trombone Department, on 20 November the finest in the Jazz Department take to the stage, and on 21 December the Big Band of the Jazz Department help revive spirits ahead of the final rush towards Christmas.

Steve Reich in the Liszt Academy: the concert comprising works by this pioneering composer of our time is graced by the personal presence of the artist himself (12 November). Specialist Zoltán Rácz has undertaken the artistic direction of the production; indeed, he also conducts the ensembles recruited from students of the Liszt Academy.

Students and professors celebrate the 138th anniversary of the foundation of the university on 14 November. The Liszt Academy Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy, with support from Andrea Vigh, Ivett Gyöngyösi and Csaba Onczay.

Hosted productions

The Liszt Academy, which formerly functioned solely as a venue institution, will continue to host – as a creative partner – several orchestras and productions, thus the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, Danubia Orchestra Óbuda, Dohnány Orchestra Budafok, MÁV Symphony Orchestra and Zugló Philharmonics will hold several of their concerts here.

Search Music Reviews

Search Sponsor

  • Insider Reviews only
  • Click here for Search Tips

Visit Our Merchandise Store

Visit Store
  • Ideally Cast Met Revival of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
    Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, NY; March 19, 2024—The Met has revived Bartlett Sher’s 1967 production of Gounod’s R&J hot on the heels of its
  • An Ozawa Story, November, 1969
    Much has justifiably been written regarding Seiji Ozawa’s extraordinary abilities and achievements as a conductor, and similarly about his generosity, graciousness, and sense of humor
  • Arvo Pärt’s Passio At St. John The Divine
    Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York, NY; January 26, 2024—When one thinks of musical settings of Christ’s Passion, one normally thinks of the