…- National Philharmonic Orchestra concert at the National Concert Hall The new hall is still only functioning in test mode and we are trying to grasp what we are listening to: how much of what we are hearing is the performer, how much the hall. At least, this was the case until the evening of […]
Author Archives: gabor.f@brandlift.eu
…- National Philharmonic Orchestra concert at the National Concert Hall The new hall is still only functioning in test mode and we are trying to grasp what we are listening to: how much of what we are hearing is the performer, how much the hall. At least, this was the case until the evening of […]
We’ve finally arrived
…- National Philharmonic Orchestra concert at the National Concert Hall The new hall is still only functioning in test mode and we are trying to grasp what we are listening to: how much of what we are hearing is the performer, how much the hall. At least, this was the case until the evening of […]
Zoltán Kocsis assembled an unusual programme with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. Between two popular numbers (Dukas: The Sourcerer's Apprentice; Debussy: La Mer) he placed a pair of barely known works (Richard Strauss: Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra; Gabriel Fauré: Ballada for piano and orchestra) into a sandwich. As a filling, the French pianist, Michel Dalberto […]
Farewell to the Music Academy
On February 10th, the National Philharmonic Orchestra staged its final concert at the Music Academy. The orchestra bade farewell to the country's most beautiful Art Nouveau building in the appropriate style with works from the turn of the 20th century. As befits Zoltán Kocsis's tastes, he chose French works (although how Richard Strauss's little known […]
Farewell and arrival
Zoltán Kocsis assembled an unusual programme with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. Between two popular numbers (Dukas: The Sourcerer's Apprentice; Debussy: La Mer) he placed a pair of barely known works (Richard Strauss: Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra; Gabriel Fauré: Ballada for piano and orchestra) into a sandwich. As a filling, the French pianist, Michel Dalberto […]
Kocsis on the healthy competition between orchestras
I believe I am one of the few who was not surprised when the internationally celebrated pianist Zoltán Kocsis moved across to the conductor's podium: I had never sensed such an orchestral sonority par excellence, such an orchestra fullness, in anyone else's piano playing. He has not just taken up the conductor's baton but in […]
If a fairy were to appear and say: “my dear boy, you are living in Budapest, you know that nothing can be perfect, so please make a choice. Should the new concert hall be beautiful or should it have good acoustics?” I don't think I would have hesitated to think for a moment. Let it […]
First Concert at the National Concert Hall, January 8, 2005
My heart tells me I should devote my report to the celebration, that I should employ grand words to do so, but sadly “I can't find words”. Additionally the entire event seemed to contradict such behaviour. What was most moving about the way this inauguration was organised was its lack of protocol and pathos. They […]
Testing, testing
If a fairy were to appear and say: “my dear boy, you are living in Budapest, you know that nothing can be perfect, so please make a choice. Should the new concert hall be beautiful or should it have good acoustics?” I don't think I would have hesitated to think for a moment. Let it […]