Music, so close – 2017/18 season tickets now on sale

Season tickets for the Liszt Academy’s 2017/18 season include big names such as Julia Lezsnyeva, Janine Jansen, the Labèque sisters and Kelemen Quartet.  “Once again, a key factor when it came to compiling the programmes was that audiences should have the opportunity of meeting not only stars of the stage but gifted young musicians of this university,” stressed Andrea Vigh, President of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, when she was asked about concert passes for the coming season.

Concerts being launched with the sponsorship of the Ministry of Human Capacities in the season starting September 2017 allow audiences to enjoy the most varied forms of chamber music, young talents of Hungarian and international music life, as well as world stars taken in the classical sense. In addition to long-established season tickets, the palette is being expanded with new series. One of these is the At Home in the Liszt Academy season ticket, presenting the extraordinary dynamism and virtuosity of Kelemen Quartet, resident ensemble of the Liszt Academy. The university’s resident programme starts this year. The New Liszt Ferenc Chamber Choir also bear this honourable title; they will be participating in several concerts during the season.

One of the most exciting instrumental line-ups known to chamber music is when two superb pianists play together. The Piano Twice season ticket includes perhaps the finest exponents of the genre, individuals who are inseparable partners. Katia and Marielle Labèque return to the Liszt Academy after their astonishingly successful recital in 2015, this time with their interpretations of works by Bartók and Brahms. Another superlative piano duo taking to the stage are Andreas Grau and Götz Schumacher. Hungarian audiences do not need to be introduced to Izabella Simon and Dénes Várjon; their recital features arrangements of orchestral works by Schumann, Brahms and Mahler. Finally, at the Duo Koroliov concert, Bach arrangements precede Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

Three Swiss ensembles unfold their talent on the stage of the Grand Hall in the Orchestra in the Centre series: they are accompanied by top vocalists Julia Lezsnyeva, Franco Fagioli, Matthias Goerne and, on the piano, Balázs Fülei who enjoys a glittering international career.

The programme of Chamber Music – Tuned for Grand Hall contains classical masterpieces, innovative new music and a few Russian specialities. The first concert in the series is the Budapest stop on the 70th birthday tour of Mischa Maisky, in which his violin partner is Janine Jansen. This promises to be a really remarkable evening. In the wake of trips to the world’s leading concert halls, László Fenyő is back home to give a sonata recital, partnered by the Armenian-born Marianna Shirinyan. The focus of the concert by two virtuoso instrumentalists, Colin Currie and Zoltán Rácz, is percussion chamber music. One of the highlights of the show is Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15 arranged for chamber music.

The Liszt Academy takes its duty of launching the performance careers of gifted young artists studying here very seriously indeed. This is why the institution always gives them as much stage time as it can. Founded in 2013, the Talent Obliges season ticket series gives top billing to talented young students of the Liszt Academy. Krisztián Kocsis gives a solo piano recital while the chamber programme of Mira Farkas turns the spotlight on the harp. Classical and contemporary piano quartets are played by four exciting young artists, Domonkos Csabay, Bálint Kruppa, András Kurgyis and János Fejérvári. There is a fine example of Irish-Hungarian collaboration in the programme featuring special works of 20th century chamber music by students of part-Hungarian violinist Gwendolyn Masin and the cream of the Liszt Academy’s student roll.

“Our institution is one of the oldest music conservatories in the world and a key concert hub in Europe, it has conducted active concert organization activities since 2014, the inevitable consequence of which is that we closely follow the careers of leading entrants in other international music competitions. Our new season ticket series has been initiated under the title Competition Winners; during the concerts this autumn, winners of competitions in Hungary and abroad present themselves,” head of the university Andrea Vigh told zeneakademia.hu.

The first concert in the Here and Now series showcasing today’s music honours the memory of composer and musicologist András Szőllősy who died 10 years ago. The second concert offers the audience an audio experience in the very latest music: in February 2017, the group of composers (the X and Y generations of Hungarian composition) founded under the name Studio 5 presented themselves at the Liszt Academy, and now they are making a reappearance with a new programme. On the final evening of this season ticket series, Raschèr Saxophone Quartet and Cracow Singers chamber choir perform American composer and pianist Lera Auerbach’s work of captivating beauty written for an unusual set of instruments.

Chamber Music, So Close performances get audiences right up close to the very best wind instruments players and their special guests. The electrifying potential in wind chamber music is revealed by the British Calefax woodwind quintet and Mobilis Saxophone Quartet blending various cultural backgrounds and influences. Erzsébet Seleljo, one of the most original young saxophonists in Hungary, is guest of the latter combo. The Ebonit saxophone formation from Amsterdam are joined on stage by youthful Liszt Academy star Marcell Szabó on piano. Guests of brass quintet In Medias Brass, founded several years ago, are trumpet player Tamás Pálfalvi and soprano Zsuzsanna Bazsinka.

Heroes, fairies and clowns are the main figures in the latest Liszt Kidz Academy for 10-15-year-olds this autumn. Heroes and heroines from ancient mythology were always popular figures in classical music: they are brought to life in a whole series of operas, cantatas and instrumental works. During these four concerts, kids learn about four fascinating characters as well as the defining styles of music history.

By popular demand, the Complete Works Live series is also back, allowing us to hear a complete chapter of a particular composer’s oeuvre. This time the audience is invited to enjoy the complete trios of Brahms at two concerts. Works are played by the most outstanding musicians of the Y generation, Miriam Helms Ålien, Ildikó Szabó and István Lajkó, joined by the clarinettist of the Vienna Philharmonic, Matthias Schorn, and multiple competition winning horn player Szabolcs Zempléni.

The chamber musical festival kamara.hu under the artistic direction of Izabella Simon and Dénes Várjon is arranged for the third successive year with the subtitle Magic Mountain. Once again, great Hungarian and foreign artists guide the audience around a musical topic put together with particular care. Similarly to previous years, this series –  enhanced with a performance for children and a literary discussion – promises totally unique musical experiences due to the event’s profundity, personal approach and remarkable connections.