Featuring: János Balázs, András Keller, Benedict Klöckner, Concerto Budapest

“The banalities must be eradicated, and some unplayable parts must be made playable,” wrote the world-famous pianist and conductor Nikolai Rubinstein about Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor. Despite Rubinstein’s harsh critique, Tchaikovsky refused to make any changes and simply removed the dedication to Rubinstein. Today, this concerto is considered one of the most famous and beloved works in the world. At this concert, it will be performed by János Balázs, accompanied by Concerto Budapest.

The orchestra will also present Francesca da Rimini, a symphonic fantasy depicting a secret love affair and its tragic end—a piece originally premiered by the very conductor who had criticized the piano concerto so harshly.

A true rarity on the program is Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor, his only composition for piano, violin, and cello. A composer who preferred grand symphonic textures, Tchaikovsky turned to chamber music only toward the end of his life. Even then, he expressed doubts in his letters about whether the piano suited such an ensemble. Yet, the idea of the trio lingered in his mind, and ultimately, the death of his friend and fellow composer Nikolai Rubinstein gave him the impetus to complete it. In this performance, János Balázs will be joined by András Keller and Benedict Klöckner.

(A joint concert by the Cziffra Festival and Concerto Budapest)

Supported by: The Prime Minister’s Office, Bethlen Gábor Fund Management

When Fazil Say articulates his artistic credo, it is as if we heard György Cziffra himself: there is only good and bad music, regardless of genre constraints. It is not surprising that since 2008, Fazil Say has been acting as an ambassador for intercultural dialogue at the request of the European Union. He is regularly invited by the New York Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Baltimore Philharmonic, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and, the BBC Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the French National Orchestra, and he has performed at Carnegie Hall and many prestigious festivals. He enraptures audiences all over the world with his stunningly unique performance, full of surprises – and of course, also with his ingenious transcriptions or his own compositions, for he is an active player in the cultural scene not only as a pianist but also as a composer and jazz musician. In his concert at the Liszt Academy, he will show us some of the most important of his thousand faces: his Mozart interpretations  (sometimes spiced with jazz) are legendary, the great French impressionist composers speak with idyllic freedom through his fingers, and he pours the essence of his credo into notes also through his own works.

Supporters: Prime Minister’s Office, Bethlen Gábor Fund

Martha Argerich and Mischa Maisky are the brightest stars of the classical music scene, and they will be remembered by many generations to come. Their fans recognise their music by just a single note or phrase they play. The legendary relationship between the two world-famous virtuosos goes back half a century. Their characteristic vision and Romantic mindset are the never-ebbing spring of their joint music-making. Their fiery, energetic, always unique and uncompromising performances make these two artists singular. Every time they go on stage together marks a special day – and this is not the first time in the history of the Cziffra Festival to happen. This time, they will bring the great classic composers of the cello-piano repertoire to Müpa: for example, Beethoven’s most mature work in this genre, whose closing fugue is considered the forerunner of his later fantastic works. Schubert’s Sonata in A minor was written for a contemporary invention, the six-string Arpeggione, also called the “string guitar”. Although the aim of this composition was only to experiment with the instrument, after the arpeggione’s disappearance, it became one of the most beloved pieces of the cello repertoire. Grieg probably did not foresee the great success of his sonata either: He composed it during a tough time when he had to fight with himself for every single note he wrote. His struggle was ripened into the highest art in this composition.

Supporters: Prime Minister’s Office, Bethlen Gábor Fund

Russian pianist Nikolai Lugansky is a returning guest in Budapest. This time, the audience of the Cziffra Festival can hear his solo performance at the Liszt Academy. The performer will be evoking the world of 19th-century salons while cherry-picking from Mendelssohn’s piano series Songs without Words, which created a new genre in its time. He will also bring to us two of Chopin’s compositions, which are the backbone of his usual repertoire: One of Chopin’s first-published nocturnes – Op. 27 in D-flat major– which is a striking example of the permeability of vocal and piano music and stands for new aesthetics, as well as Chopin’s Ballad in F minor, Op. 52. The two Wagner Paraphrases featured during the evening reinforce the validity of the dialogue between genres. The piece inspired by the last act of the Nibelung Tetralogy was composed by Lugansky himself, and he will perform Liszt’s well-known version of Isolde’s love death from Tristan and Isolde.

Supporters: Prime Minister’s Office, Bethlen Gábor Fund

Programme

Nearing the birthday of the world-famous Hungarian piano virtuoso György Cziffra, pianist János Balázs, a rightful heir and representative of the musical heritage bequeathed to us by the master, is giving a piano recital. Extraordinary lightness, improvisation, and almost self-evident shifting between the different styles characterise the performance tradition following in the footsteps of Ferenc Liszt and Ernő Dohnányi, which the only 35-year-old János Balázs will present it to the audience this time. The artist’s unique play will evoke a bygone era, the most distinguished salon atmosphere of the 19th century, through the transcriptions of Liszt, Chopin and György Cziffra in the concert hall of the Olso Academy of Music. Some young Norwegian pianists will debut during the evening, and the students of János Balázs’ international masterclass will also surprise the audience with musical treats. The performance is the international opening event of the Jubilee Cziffra Festival, which, with its programme, deservedly represents the essence of György Cziffra’s ethos and artistic credo achieved at the cost of so much suffering: the freedom of man and music.

Supporters: Prime Minister’s Office, Bethlen Gábor Fund

There has been a long-standing cooperation between the Hungarian Cziffra Festival and one of Poland’s most prestigious thematic classical musical festivals, through which – among other things- Chopin’s legacy meets the heritage of the legendary György Cziffra.

An emblematic example of the connection between the musical traditions of the two countries is the joint recital of the Cziffra Festival Talent Award-winning violinist and the pianist and assistant professor of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Grzegorz Skrobinski. The two performers will allow the audience to glimpse into the violin-piano repertoire of the turn of the 20th century through the works of six composers. In the first part of the concert, Polish music will play the lead: Wieniawski’s Scherzo tarantella and Szymanowski’s composition inspired by Paganini (op. 40). In the rest of the evening, the audience can relish a programme arching from Bartók to Jenő Hubay: Bartók’s deservedly popular Rhapsody No. 1, whose verbunkos tune intensifies into a fierce festivity, then a rearrangement from the Romanian dances. The 1905 version of Kodály’s famous Adaggio will be played on the violin this time, followed by a virtuoso composition by a celebrated violinist of the early 20th century, Ferenc Vecsey. The recital will conclude with the Carmen Fantasy of Jenő Hubay, the founding father of the first Hungarian violin school.

(An event jointly organised by Cziffra Festival and the Polish Music Festival)

Funded by the Prime Minister’s Office, Gábor Bethlen Fund Management Ltd.

Program leírás

Conductor: Gábor Hollerung

Rachmaninov, Dohnányi and John Williams: True musical fireworks await you at this concert, passionate melodies, playful lightness, great expertise and outstanding virtuosity.

Joint concert of the Cziffra Festival and the Budafoki Dohnányi Orchestra.

Supporters: Prime Minister’s Office, Bethlen Gabor Fund

Tribute to a Hungarian Legend / / Hommage to Cziffra

János Balázs, who is not only heir to the legacy of the Hungarian-born legendary pianist György Cziffra but also a globally celebrated pianist in his own right and a favourite of festivals and international concert halls, will play solo at the concert jointly given with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra within the framework of the international programme of the György Cziffra Festival. Besides compositions by Smetana and Brahms, the first piano concerto by the Hungarian composer Peter Eötvös, who is already well-known to the London audience, will feature on the programme. Cziffra Psodia, Eötvös’ first piano concerto dedicated to János Balázs, which represents the Hungarian musical traditions nurtured by folk music and also features the cimbalom, will be in the centre of the night. It will be preceded by the overture of the Czech Bedřich Smetana’s three-act opera – also showing the characteristics of the Central European musical universe, which was first performed in 1866. In the finale, the audience can relish Symphony No. 2  – under the baton of Alexander Shelley – written by Johannes Brahms, who himself was so impressed with the motifs of Hungarian music that he devoted several compositions to its themes, which have since become some of the most popular works in the history of music. The piano concerto, Cziffra Psodia, which will now be presented to the British audience for the first time, is the first concerto in Peter Eötvös’ oeuvre, which the master dedicated the work to János Balázs and the unfolding of his artistic essence. The piece was written in 2021, the 100th birthday of György Cziffra. It is a work motivated by personal experience and evokes memories of childhood. Through the moments of the legendary pianist’s life, it commemorates the development of this incredibly talented artist, whose life was not free from humiliation, exile and the storms of history.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Cziffra Festival jointly present the concert.

Sponsored by the Gabor Bethlen Fund Management Ltd., Prime Minister’s Office