Ever since winning the first edition of the Bartók World Competition in 2017, Cosima has felt at home in Budapest. Last month she arrived at the Liszt Academy at the invitation of the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, an orchestra she is familiar with since playing with them during the final. The violinist has preserved all her youthful openness and enthusiasm, while also having amassed huge experience since our first interview in 2017. This latest portrait of Cosima Soulez Larivière sketches out her experiences and impressions during the past 18 months.

A perfect organ in a perfect hall. Amazing message from the past to the future

Bartók World Competition and Festival continues in 2019 with a contest for young pianists, held at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Applications are open for pianists from all over the world who are aged 32 or under with the 1st or 2nd movement of Bartók's Suite for Piano and any Etude by Liszt. The competition, held between 7 and 15 September 2019, consists of four live rounds and concludes with a gala concert and award ceremony. The Prize Fund of the competition is 60.000 EUR.

A fragrant flower or a set of pipes? The Hungarian word ‘orgona’ simultaneously means both lilac and pipe organ. Is there any semantic relation between the two meanings, or is just a mere linguistic coincidence? We investigated the history of the word ‘orgona’ with the help of etymologist Adrienne Dömötör.

Schumann’s piano chamber pieces are performed at the six concerts of the Complete Works Live series in the spring of 2019. Robert Schumann’s art has always been especially close to my heart – says Liszt Prize-winning pianist Dénes Várjon, who is the art director of the concert series.

What kind of instrument is an organ (organon, organum)? How does it work, and how does it look like? There is no short answer to these questions. On the one hand, organ has no clearly definable size or shape; during its long history the name designated many kind of instruments from hydraulic organs with a dozen pipes to a concert organ with seven manuals and thousands of pipes which can be regarded as a world record of its kind. On the other hand, the way of sounding or the size of the keys also varied over the centuries. By the time the pipe organ of the Academy of Music, one of the most modern instrument of its age, was installed at the Grand Hall, the organ had changed as much as it could throughout its long journey across the past two thousand years.

We would like to kindly inform you that the ticket office of the Liszt Academy is open and the guided tours of the building are available during the holiday season except on 24, 25 and 26 December.