The two Hungarians not only played music, they were themselves the music – in every nerve – down to their fingertips.
The Liszt Academy’s restored organ, made in 1907 and the same age as the Art Nouveau building it is housed in, can once again be seen and heard in all its former glory from autumn 2018. A decision on the reconstruction of the original organ was taken by the academy in 2010, with the inauguration taking place on 22 October 2018, the anniversary of the birth of Ferenc Liszt.
The concert organ of the Grand Hall, whose façade turned into the symbol of Hungarian music life in the 20th century - was first played in public over 111 years ago, on 15 May, 1907. This unique instrument built by the Voit & Söhne organ company was an inherent part of the Grand Hall until 1967, when the pipes were silenced, and the dummied façade got to conceal another organ – at least, up to now. From October, the original organ in the Grand Hall will again be a featured part of the most prominent pieces of the organ literature. The programmes of our Organ Inauguration subscription ranging from highly popular Baroque pieces to the German Romantic repertoire, to singular chamber music concerts and to the works of the greatest Hungarian composers will bring to show the multifaceted abilities of the instrument. Let me draw your attention to a work, which is going to be performed also at the festive inaugural concert: Liszt’s Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H. With this composition, we simultaneously play tribute to the founder of our university, to the greatest organist of all time, Johann Sebastian Bach, and to those who exerted themselves to move every pipe and key back to place and whose dream has now come true: the Voit-organ’s exceptionally magnificent sound will again fill this unique concert hall.
Dr. Andrea Vigh, President of the Liszt Academy
