The Festival Orchestra will offer an evening of Brahms’ 3rd and 4th symphonies conducted by Iván Fischer. The programme will be performed on three different days. The orchestra will also stage a concert of German baroque and an evening of German contemporary art, while contributing in Elisabeth Hauptmann and Bertolt Brecht’s “school opera” The Yes Sayer, with music by Kurt Weill.

Other acts on the programme include the Tony Lakatos Quintet, the 17 Hippies from Berlin, Nils Wogram Nostalgia Trio and Das Kapital, among others.

A Hungarian-German literary evening is also prepared with Hungarian writers popular in Germany, such as Péter Esterházy, Zsófia Bán and György Dragoman meeting German writers Terézia Mora and Ingo Schulze.

An international roundtable commemorating the opening of Hungary’s Iron Curtain border 25 years ago and its impact on German- Hungarian economic and cultural relations will also be held during the festival.

Bridging Europe Festival – detailed event schedule

15 September - We Had a Dream – German-Hungarian Literary Chanson Evening
This evening, which reflects active cultural relationships, promises to be a lively and informal event on the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. On this evening, Terézia Mora and Ingo Schulze, who are well known in Hungary, will talk to Hungarian writers Péter Esterházy, Zsófia Bán and György Dragomán, who are also popular in Germany. The discussion will be moderated by György Dalos, who is regarded as the “engine” of literary relations. The event is sponsored by the Goethe Institute.

16 September - The German Baroque Night of the Budapest Festival Orchestra
On this occasion, the Baroque ensemble of the Budapest Festival Orchestra will be led by the exotically beautiful violinist Midori Seiler, while the soprano soloist of the concert, Yeree Suh, will sing wearing contemporary Baroque clothes and using gestures characteristic of the Baroque period.

The Budapest Festival Orchestra

Formed over thirty years ago and considered one of the ten best orchestras in the world, the Budapest Festival Orchestra is a success story of Hungary’s musical life. One key to this success is musical director Iván Fischer, who was one of the founders along with Zoltán Kocsis.

The unique arrangement in which the BFO works allows the individual artistic qualities of its musicians to culminate in a singularly consistent orchestral sound. Critics and audiences alike readily acknowledge its captivating performance style, which is marked by an attention to detail characteristic of chamber musicians, and the sheer energy with which the joy of making music together is conveyed.

Over the decades, the Festival Orchestra has brought such world stars to the concert halls of Hungary as György Solti (who was the BFO’s first guest conductor until his death), Yehudi Menuhin, Pinchas Zukerman, Gidon Kremer, Radu Lupu, Sándor Végh, András Schiff and Richard Goode. The Orchestra performs in the world’s leading musical centres (including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, the Musikverein in Vienna, and the Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw), and it is a regular guest of prestigious international festivals.

The Palace of Arts

The Palace of Arts is one of Hungary’s best known cultural brands and one of its most modern cultural institutions. It brings together the many and varied disciplines of the arts in unique fashion by providing a home for classical, contemporary, popular and world music, not to mention jazz and opera, as well as contemporary circus, dance, literature and film.

The venue known to Hungarians simply as Müpa opened its doors in 2005 to offer cultural events of the highest quality to the diverse audiences for the above genres. The institution’s fundamental task is to introduce new artistic trends and directions – while respecting Hungarian and European artistic traditions – and to relay them in a clearly understandable way that creates rich and rewarding experiences to be enjoyed by both the connoisseur and the person on the street.

In addition to presenting performances by Hungarian and international artists of the highest order, the Palace of Arts also initiates and sponsors the creation of new artworks. It plays a major role in nurturing cultural relationships with other countries, in advancing Hungarian interests, and in increasing international recognition for Hungarian performing artists.

Its activities play a major role in ensuring an ever broader section of the next generation enters adulthood as conscious consumers of culture. It does all this by promoting artistic events and services that are inspiring, generate discussion and raise questions, and by producing novel programmes built around developing experiences, creativity and interaction.

For more information visit Palace of Arts

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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