Author Archives: gabor.f@brandlift.eu

Vienna at the turn of the 20th century was a bee's nest of contradictions. A city with a strong liberal Jewish merchant class, it was also an ultra-conservative breeding ground for anti-Semitism. Through its architecture and museums Vienna was home to the old masters and eclecticism, but it also spawned the cutting edge of new […]

Two concerts that couldn't have been much different in scope and style were the recital of German Lieder by soprano Barbara Bonney with accompanist Malcolm Martineau on November 21, and the orchestral concert by the Hungarian National Philharmonic, led by Zoltán Kocsis and featuring piano soloist Alexander Toradze on November 24.  The former was intimate […]

When I first chanced upon the announcement of the National Philharmonic Orchestra's April 27th concert in the Concert Calendar, I immediately knew that that was the place for me. The choice of programme is virtually a symbol for Zoltán Kocsis's efforts at developing both the orchestra and the audience. Two Stravinsky works, which are rarer […]

Adventurous and complementary are words that spring to mind for the programme of the Hungarian National Philharmonic's Sands Centre concert. Under their conductor Zoltan Kocsis they brought the Carlisle audience Sudden time by George Benjamin, a contemporary English composer: The quartet of alto flutes produced some dreamlike effects.  Some clever handiwork, also, by the player […]

The Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra has a complex but illustrious history. It has worked with luminaries such as Dorati, Mehta, Maazel, Barbirolli, Stokowski, and Abbado – and, since 1997, its director has been Zoltan Kocsis. With such a pedigree comes high expectations, which were triumphantly justified in this fine concert. Ravel composed Le Tombeau de […]

We are Hungarians who are awaiting the New World when we accede [the EU] in spring – said Katalin Bogyay, the director of the London Hungarian Cultural Centre, talking about the programme of the National Philharmonic Orchestra. The ensemble in the opening concert of Magyar Magic, played Kodály, Liszt, and finally Dvořák's New World symphony. […]

This series of concerts was opened on Thursday November 6th by the National Philharmonic, conducted by Zoltán Kocsis, and featuring Attila Fekete and Jenő Jandó. The ensemble is in England on a three week tour, and will give 14 concerts in 18 days in a variety of British towns and cities. The venue for this […]

The National Philharmonic Orchestra's concert at the Music Academy last Sunday saw the realisation of a witty program selection: the opening and closing works of the evening projected the world of storytelling onto a symphonic musical canvas – first with Maurice Ravel's 1912 depiction of Snow White, Tom Thump, the Princess of the Pagodas and […]

One of the interesting aspects to the 20 Hungarian Folksongs performed in the opening concert of the Budapest Music Weeks, was that it was partly orchestrated by Zoltán Kocsis. Another thing of interest is that as things stand, we will never hear it again. Of course, as we had the opportunity for an interview, we […]

The broadcast of the opening concert of the Budapest Music Weeks was also interesting from a television perspective and although it was shown a week after the event, at least it preserved what should be preserved. The television people had to solve a complex task, partly because the premiere of the Twenty Hungarian Folk Songs […]