Szabó Marcell (piano), Filarmonica George Enescu, conductor: Ion Iosif Prunner

Celebrate Advent at the Liszt Institute’s cosy concert with Hungarian award-winning piano virtuoso János Balázs and young talents.

The concert will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary Hungarian pianist György Cziffra. János Balázs, the artistic director of the Cziffra Festival and Memorial Year will perform together with his mentored students. The three young talent covers the whole spectrum of the world-renowned Hungarian music education including the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, the classical music talent show Virtuosos, the Snétberger Music Talent Centre, the Talentum Hungaricum programme and the Cziffra Festival Talent programme. The young performers are connected by János Balázs and the music heritage of György Cziffra.

Orsolya Janszó pursues classical vocal studies at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague and the Conservatory of Bratislava. Throughout her career, she has sung in many churches and concert halls, including the Prado in Madrid, the Great Hall of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest, the Altes Rathaus in Vienna and the Casino in Madrid where she sang personally to Queen Sophia. She sings pieces from the classical and romantic repertoire.

Cecília Ungár is a 21-year old classical pianist who studies at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. Her mentors are János Balázs, artictic director of the Cziffra Festival and Katalin Falvai. She performed at several renowned competitions with outstanding results. In 2017, she made it to the semi-finals of the classical music talent show Virtuosos.

Described by the Strad Magazine for her “magical simplicity” and true “aristocrat” by La Libre of the violin, Júlia Pusker came to international attention in her prizewinning performances at the prestigious 2019 Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition in Brussels. Born into a family of musicians in Hungary, Júlia began her musical education at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest before moving to England to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Between 2016 and 2021, she was Artist-in-Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels, working with Augustin Dumay.

János Balázs is one of the most successful pianists who regularly performs at the renowned concert halls of the world. He is an associate professor at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. He is so far the youngest recipient of the Kossuth Prize, Hungary’s most prestigious state award in the field of culture, and as such, he is in the same league as musicians like György Ligeti, György Kurtág, András Schiff or Iván Fischer. His Young Steinway Artist title and the accolade of the State of Poland stand out from his international awards, the latter being conferred upon him for the performance of Frédéric Chopin’s complete works. In 2016, János Balázs founded the György Cziffra Festival, which he dedicated to the conservation and care of the intellectual and musical legacy of his role model, Hungarian-born virtuoso pianist and composer György Cziffra.

The concert will feature Piano Concerto No. 1, a piece so magnificent that it took Liszt over 25 years to complete, as well as Les Préludes, the best known of Liszt’s symphonic poems. This concert is for piano enthusiasts as Liszt was considered the greatest piano virtuoso of his time. János Balázs will perform solo piano and Pablo Mielgo will conduct.

Please note that attendees will be only admitted if they are fully vaccinated.

PERFORMER:
Pablo Mielgo, conductor
János Balázs, piano

The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra pays tribute to Franz Liszt, one of the greatest composers in music literature. The soloist will be one of Hungary’s most in-demand pianists, János Balázs, known for his unique technical skills and lyrical performance style, and the orchestra will be conducted by Grammy-nominated Pablo Mielgo. The concert will feature both of Liszt’s popular piano concertos and his best-known symphonic poem ‘Les Préludes’, as well as a work by another world-famous Hungarian composer, Zoltan Kodály. The concert, on June 3 is a tribute not only to Liszt, but also to György Cziffra, the Hungarian piano virtuoso, who was born just over 100 years ago.

Franz Liszt, one of the most prolific composers of all time, is also still one of the most popular. His grandiose, virtuoso works, musical poetry and innovations continue to influence music today. He was the first true musical star to tour extensively and to have Europe, from Paris to Vienna, at his feet. His piano playing revolutionised the possibilities of the instrument, and continues to inspire generations of pianists to this day. János Balázs, Hungary’s multi-award-winning pianist, is the latest to continue this tradition. The link between Liszt and Balázs is György Cziffra, the Hungarian-born virtuoso pianist, who went from being a bar pianist in Budapest to a world-famous virtuoso, who not only inherited the tradition of Liszt’s piano playing from his teachers at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, but also, through his gypsy roots, the tradition of improvisation and free, instinctive musical expression. The concert thus also pays tribute to Cziffra, whose memory János Balázs celebrates through his organisation of music and through this year’s commemorative activities around the world.

The concert, to be held in the Opera House in Katara Cultural Village, will be a combination of magnificent virtuosity, musical immersion and pure pleasure. The evening will start with Zoltán Kodály’s ’Dances of Galanta’, a symphonic poem derived from 18th-century Hungarian folk music. Following this, Liszt’s two great piano concertos will be performed, and the evening will end with his most popular orchestral work, ’Les Préludes’. The Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major was composed over a period of 25 years, during which time Liszt mastered every detail of orchestral composition. The Piano Concerto No. 2 (in A major) was completed prior to the first concerto, but was titled ‘No. 2’ because its premiere took place after the premiere of the E-flat major concerto. ‘Les Préludes’ also took many years to conceive, and is a favourite of music-loving audiences, with its depiction of the complex struggle between the lows and highs of human life finally resulting in a positive, joyful ending symbolised by a triumphant march.

The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted by Pablo Mielgo.

János Balázs’s virtuosity and free, unique musical approach have made him one of the most authentic interpreters of Liszt. He is a born soloist who announced himself to the world at the beginning of his career by winning the ECHO (European Concert Hall Organisation) Rising Star “Artist of the Season” award. Since then audiences have delighted at his charismatic, sparkling and revolutionary performances alongside associates with a similar approach and orientation, such as Mischa Maisky, Vadim Repin, and Jose Cura. Balázs has been awarded nearly every professional and state accolade available in Hungary and is the youngest recipient so far of the prestigious Kossuth Prize. His Young Steinway Artist title, and an accolade from the State of Poland, conferred upon him for his performance of Frédéric Chopin’s complete works, stand out from among his international awards. Since 2021 he has been a corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.

This concert is presented by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra in partnership with the Cziffra György Memorial Year organisation.

Program Description:

The St. Frambourg Chapel of Senlis is a special place, housing the solo concert of János Balázs, which is simultaneously the opening concert of the centenary celebrations organized by the Cziffra Foundation in France. 

The concert is influenced by the romantic tradition of pianists and composers passionately improvising, alongside revising notorious operas and songs. The pieces played will range from Bach to Liszt, and expand through the improvisations of György Cziffra and János Balázs, showcasing the 200-year tradition of the performer becoming the companion of the creative artist. This is how János Balázs would like to call attention to the life of this art form in classical music, as well as pay tribute to the memory of György Cziffra. 

György Cziffra founded the Cziffra Foundation in 1973, whose center became the St. Frambourg Chapel, named the Liszt Ferenc Auditorium. The foundation aims to support young talents (not just musicians). Utilizing private funding, the chapel was renovated to its current form, with the inclusion of a concert room and an exhibition hall. The early gothic chapel is an important site for French history; Adelheid, the wife of Capet Hugó (the king who consolidated France) founded the first shrine here. The severely dilapidated monument was used as a garage in the 1970s and opened by György Cziffra as a concert hall in 1977 when eight glass panels were made for his friend, Joan Miró. The foundation has been in function ever since the death of György Cziffra. Its leader, Gérard Bekerman, is the international patron of Cziffra György Memorial Year.  

(Joint concert of Cziffra György Memorial Year and Foundation Cziffra)