Concert Centre News

Bartók’s music is best understood through the images it evokes

Bartók’s music is best understood through the images it evokes

23 September 2019

Lithuanian pianist Mūza Rubackytė divides her time between Vilnius, Paris and Geneva. Indeed, she is a welcome guest on every continent, and her home country has recognised her with a Medal of Honour, among other awards. As a member of the jury of the Bartók World Competition and as the Director of Music of the Vilnius Piano Music Festival, she has presented a special prize to the winner of the competition, Ádám Szokolay: an opportunity for him to perform in the Lithuanian capital in November 2021.

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“Bartók has to be second nature to you”

“Bartók has to be second nature to you”

20 September 2019

He was born in the United States and lives there, but speaks perfect Hungarian and has been drawn to Bartók’s music since the very beginning. Peter Klimo took the stage with Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at the orchestral finals of the Bartók World Competition.

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“Bartók has never felt like a stranger to me”

“Bartók has never felt like a stranger to me”

19 September 2019

At 21, Ádám Balogh has already been a prize winner at a number of international piano competitions and a guest soloist with acclaimed orchestras. He first appeared with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 2010. The youngest competitor in the Bartók World Competition, he played Liszt’s Concerto for Piano in A Major in the orchestral finals.

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“I look for freedom in Bartók’s compositions”

“I look for freedom in Bartók’s compositions”

18 September 2019

Ádám Zsolt Szokolay played Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 1 at the orchestral grand final of the Bartók World Competition and was later declared the winner at the gala evening. After the awards ceremony, he said he had managed to put all his ideas into practice at the competition and felt that the firm focus he experienced there would assist him in his career. At present, he is in the process of honing his skills as a student at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar and is convinced that Bartók’s music demands an open-hearted approach.

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Ádám Szokolay wins this year’s Bartók World Competition

Ádám Szokolay wins this year’s Bartók World Competition

17 September 2019

Ádám Szokolay, 23, has clinched first place at the 2019 Bartók World Competition, organised by the Academy of Music for pianists this year. At the gala evening held on 15 September, second place went to Ádám Balogh, while Peter Klimo came in third.

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“Bartók was a prophet of the 20th century”

“Bartók was a prophet of the 20th century”

14 September 2019

Liszt Prize-winning pianist Kálmán Dráfi believes that anyone who can give an excellent performance of Bartók can play almost anything else and that therefore one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century ought to receive a higher stature in the repertoires of Hungarian pianists. A department head at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Dráfi is a member of the jury for the Bartók World Competition, which is expected to decide late Saturday night who wins this year’s piano category.

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“Unquestionable heritage” – conference on Bartók and the piano

“Unquestionable heritage” – conference on Bartók and the piano

14 September 2019

An English-language international conference linked to this year’s Bartók World Competition has again been held by the Institute for Musicology of the Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Held on September 14, the symposium focused on Bartók and the piano and the first volume of a Bartók complete critical edition published by the Institute this year.

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“Bartók’s universe is unique and inimitable”

“Bartók’s universe is unique and inimitable”

13 September 2019

The jury for this year’s Bartók World Competition is headed by Kenji Watanabe, one of Japan’s best-known pianists, who is also noted for his authentic interpretations of Liszt and Bartók. Currently a lecturer at the Tokyo University of the Arts, he studied at the Liszt Academy in the 1980s, where he learned to speak Hungarian, and he believes that his command of the language has helped him a great deal to uncover the inner logic of Bartók’s musical world.

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Jury names three Bartók World Competition finalists

Jury names three Bartók World Competition finalists

13 September 2019

On Saturday, Ádám Balogh, Peter Klimo and Ádám Szokolay are to compete in the orchestral finals of the Bartók World Competition organized by the Academy of Music. The three pianists will each play a piece of their own choice accompanied by the Hungarian National Philharmonic conducted by Zsolt Hamar.

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