Programme

One of the most extreme stops of Liszt’s years-long journey of virtuoso recitals was the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul. He arrived in the seat of Sultan Abdulmejid I on 8 June 1847, where he stayed with the businessman and piano manufacturer Alexandre Kommendiger. During the five weeks of his stay, he gave six concerts – two of them in the Sultan’s palace. The sovereign rewarded Liszt with the diamond-studded Order of Nichan-Iftikhar. The composer remained in contact with the Sultan’s court and Istanbul’s music scene until the end of his life. The core of his concerts included opera paraphrases, transcriptions from Schubert and Schumann’s works, for instance, the melodies of The Puritans, Norma, Lucia of Lammermoor or Liszt’s re-arrangement of Erlkönig. János Balázs will evoke the ambience of these unparalleled nights at the concert of the György Cziffra Memorial Year and the Hungarian Cultural Centre in Istanbul, enriching the programme of the Beyoglu Kültür Yolu Festival of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, featuring over 300 events and 2000 performers

The soloist of the evening is the Hungarian pianist, János Balázs, renowned for his extraordinary technique and profound lyricism. He is well-known to the audiences of the Barbican Centre in London, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Bozar in Brussels, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory or the Palau de Musica in Barcelona. He regularly collaborates with such performers as Vadim Repin, Mischa Maisky, Pinchas Steinberg, Tamás Vásáry, Stéphane Denève or Jose Cura.

The concert is held within the framework of the Beyoglu Kültür Yolu (Beyoglu Way of Culture) Festival organised by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
(Joint concert of the György Cziffra Memorial Year and the Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Centre and the Hungarian Embassy in Ankara)

It is no exaggeration to claim that the very elite of the Hungarian classical music scene will present themselves at this concert within the framework of the Cziffra Festival. The audience can welcome the festival’s founder and artistic director, a recipient of numerous Hungarian and international awards, János Balázs, as the night’s soloist. He can wash away the distance between the musician and his audience with his fascinating technical skills and extraordinarily refined performance. One of today’s most successful Hungarian conductors, a favourite with prestigious international, especially British, orchestras thanks to his leadership attitude, spellbinding stylistic insight and musicianship, Gábor Takács Nagy, will lead the chamber music ensemble of the festival, enlisting young musical talents.

The brilliant performers will be playing works subject to the pride of Hungarian music history: Liszt’s Piano Concerto in E-flat major and Bartók’s Divertimento (meant to be performed in Germany and Switzerland) matched the European music trends of their times; yet with their ingenuity, they also challenged their boundaries. The piano concerto Hungarian Fantasy and Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances represent another universe: they are pieces written by masters faithful to their home country and roots: masterpieces elevating Hungarian traditional folk music into the highest spheres and revealing it to the world.

The concert is given by the Chamber Music Ensemble of the Cziffra Festival, the honorary name of the orchestra taken as a tribute played to the emblematic pianist during the Cziffra Memorial Year. Outside the festival, the ensemble’s name is Animae Musicae Chamber Orchestra.

Programme

As to their artistic characters, Ádám Banda and Ádám Balogh are closely related: they are both sensitive, inspired musicians devoting themselves completely and utterly to music. Their playing is sophisticated, elegant, yet powerful and captivating. Such a partnership is rare, especially between the representatives of two different generations. The audience can anticipate a unique harmony while enjoying some emblematic melodies of the violin-piano repertoire. The programme’s core consists of some pivotal masterpieces of the first half of the 20th century, a period particularly rich in various styles: Bartók’s Rhapsody, an excerpt from Der Rosenkavalier and a transcription of Stravinsky’s Firebird. In the meantime, we can look back on their immediate predecessors, Brahms and Chopin’s Romanticism. We’ll evoke Chopin with the rarely heard transcript of a Nocturne written by Nathan Milstein in 1935. Also, we can take a brief glimpse at the cornerstone of music, Bach’s oeuvre, through the great German master chorale transcription. Finally, you can relish the Devil’s Trill Sonata, a genuine pillar in the violin repertoire.

The concert is part of the Cziffra100 event series, takes place in the joint organisation of Chopin PianoFest Pristhina and the Cziffra Festival Budapest.

Programme

Performers: János Balázs (piano), Lajos Sárközy (violin), Nicole Henter (flute), Denys Dragan (piano)

(A joint event organised by the György Cziffra Memorial Year and the Cziffra Stiftung)

Moderation: Elisabeth Heresch

The Vienna-based Cziffra Stiftung has been preserving the artistic legacy of György Cziffra since 1997, has been working tirelessly to make the legendary’s pianist’s unique perspectives and champions young talents linked with the Stiftung by providing them with opportunities to excel. At this jubilee concert, such performers will celebrate the Stiftung’s anniversary who represent Cziffra’s ethos both as musicians and public figures, from and beyond Hungary. Naturally, their selection is based on Cziffra’s transcriptions as well as compositions readily played also by the piano virtuoso himself: The “high Romantic” universe of Liszt, Weber, Saint-Saëns and Brahms takes shape through burnished and lighter dances, opera excerpts and a texture of national motifs.

The concert is part of the Cziffra100 event series, takes place in the joint organisation of the Cziffra Stiftung Vienna and the Cziffra Festival Budapest.
The 100th anniversary of the birth of the world-famous Hungarian pianist György Cziffra is officially celebrated in Hungary as part of a Memorial Year, and has also been included by UNESCO in the list of anniversaries. The programmes of Cziffra100 are organised under the artistic leadership of pianist János Balázs, in a unique professional partnership with a number of institutions, orchestras and partners in Hungary as well as in the most significant cities of the music world. The Cziffra Memorial Year is supported by the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with the help of the Bethlen Gábor Fund.

Program leírás

featuring: Sárközy Lajos Jr Ensemble, János Balázs (Piano)

Boundless emotion, freedom and superhuman technique: these are the characteristics of György Cziffra’s piano playing, which will be celebrated at the Museum of Imola. The Emilia Romagna Festival will commemorate two days from 10 to 11 July to this unique figure among world-famous pianists, who was born 100 years ago. Award-winning Hungarian pianist János Balázs will present Cziffra’s legacy: a rarely heard improvisational face of classical music. An exhibition will showcase the Hollywood movie-like life of György Cziffra, the virtuoso pianist who started in the bars of Budapest and became a world renowned superstar. A series of concerts recall his superhuman improvisational skills, with guest appearances by distinguished Hungarian musicians, in the spirit of “freedom of music”.

The mini-festival in Imola on 10 and 11 July will give a complete picture about Cziffra. Visitors will be able to get a complete picture of the master: two concerts, an exhibition, a discussion will recall Cziffra’s work. The mini-festival is the brainchild of Hungarian pianist János Balázs, who has been taking care of Cziffra’s immortality for nearly a decade: for the sixth year running, he has organised an international festival in Budapest and has created an international series of events to mark the centenary, which will now come to Imola in July.

The concert will recall improvisation on the stage. Though the concert programme is classical, the Ensemble will also include a special instrument of traditional gipsy music, the ‘cimbalom’. ‘The audience can have a once in a lifetime experience to see an acclaimed concert pianist János Balázs improvising together with this band and also in his solo programme.

Programme

featuring: László Borbély (piano), Orsolya Janszó (opera singer)

Boundless emotion, freedom and superhuman technique: these are the characteristics of György Cziffra’s piano playing, which will be celebrated at the Museum of Imola. The Emilia Romagna Festival will commemorate two days from 10 to 11 July to this unique figure among world-famous pianists, who was born 100 years ago. Award-winning Hungarian pianist János Balázs will present Cziffra’s legacy: a rarely heard improvisational face of classical music. An exhibition will showcase the Hollywood movie-like life of György Cziffra, the virtuoso pianist who started in the bars of Budapest and became a world renowned superstar. A series of concerts recall his superhuman improvisational skills, with guest appearances by distinguished Hungarian musicians, in the spirit of “freedom of music”.

The mini-festival in Imola on 10 and 11 July will give a complete picture about Cziffra. Visitors will be able to get a complete picture of the master: two concerts, an exhibition, a discussion will recall Cziffra’s work. The mini-festival is the brainchild of Hungarian pianist János Balázs, who has been taking care of Cziffra’s immortality for nearly a decade: for the sixth year running, he has organised an international festival in Budapest and has created an international series of events to mark the centenary, which will now come to Imola in July.

Cziffra was also a teacher and a supporter of emerging talents, so as the memorial year: one of the concerts will also showcase the shooting stars of the Hungarian concert scene, mentored by János Balázs. The chamber music concert will consist remarkable pieces from the romanticism and also from the 20th century. About the artists: Gergely Devich (cello) represented Hungary on the Eurovision Young Musician Contest winning 3rd place, singer Orsolya Janszó is mentored as a featured artist in the National Talent Programme and László Borbély (piano) despite his young age is professor of the prestigious Franz Liszt Academy of Music.

The second concert will recall improvisation on the stage. Though the concert programme is classical, the Ensemble will also include a special instrument of traditional gipsy music, the ‘cimbalom’. ‘The audience can have a once in a lifetime experience to see an acclaimed concert pianist János Balázs improvising together with this band and also in his solo programme.

(Joint programme of the György Cziffra Memorial Year and the Emilia Romagna Festival)

Program leírás

Music of the Central European region
Featuring: János Balázs, North Bohemia Philharmonic Teplice, conductor: Wojciech Rodek

(Joint concert of the George Cziffra Memorial Year and the Czech Touches of Music Festival)

Program leírás

Program

Performers: Várnagy Andrea, Farkas Lili (piano)

Joint concert of the Hungarian Academy in Rome and Cziffra Memorial Year.