With the Bartók Spring barely ended, new discoveries are already on offer as the first events are announced of Müpa Budapest’s Liszt Fest International Cultural Festival. Christian Löffler, Compagnia Finzi Pasca, Arvo Pärt 90, Isolation Budapest, the opera Liszt himself thought was lost: featuring international stars, unconventional and multi-art productions, and offering unforgettable concert experiences, the event series will again pay a fitting tribute to the spirit of its namesake, Ferenc Liszt.

Ferenc Liszt was a virtuoso and a cosmopolitan musician, whose work, both as a performer and creative artist, was characterized by a musical and cultural diversity, a simultaneity of classical and contemporary values, a respect for the tradition of his predecessors and a tireless desire to innovate. The Liszt Fest applies this spirit to the 21st century, and its rich programme is accordingly marked by variety, freshness and a respect for tradition.
One of the first events of the festival will be a screening of Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s magical Faust, a film from 1926, which will be turned into a complex, nostalgic yet 21st-century cinematic experience in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall by the playing of László Fassang, the resident organist of Müpa Budapest. Featuring what were a surprisingly large number of technical innovations and counting as a true sensation at the time of its premiere, the film will be accompanied by live improvisation and musical quotations on the monumental instrument of Müpa Budapest, evoking the fascinating world of the cinema organists of yore.

Isolation Budapest, organised jointly by Müpa Budapest and Akvárium Klub as part of the Liszt Fest, will bring the international stars of the underground music scene to Budapest for the fourth time. The line-up includes such hot and iconic performers of soul, jazz, hip hop and indie music as Jordan Rakei, Yellow Days, Hinds, Okay Kaya, Jeshi and Martin Luke Brown, the newly crowned ruler of the London indie scene. ADÉDÈJÌ’s concert at the House of Music Hungary is another treat for the lovers of lighter styles: no date could be more apt for a show by one of the most important figures of Afrobeat than the birthday of Fela Kuti, the founder of the genre – a day when fans celebrate across the globe.
Christian Löffler’s performance promises to be both liberating and hypnotic: one of the most compelling artists of contemporary electronica comes to Müpa Budapest as part of his European tour, to wow the audience with old favourites and brand new songs, a programme that brilliantly blends digital with analogue sound.
Esszencia will join István Szalonna Pál and his Band in Pesti Vigadó for a peaceful ‘duel’ of instruments. The beguiling encounter of the two formations is guaranteed to supercharge the atmosphere with virtuosic improvisations, lugubrious slow melodies, dynamic csardases and other dances. For their part, Esszencia will also bring in jazz influences, with Marcel Comendant, one of the world’s best cimbalom players as their guest.

One of today’s best-known Estonian composers, Arvo Pärt celebrates his 90th birthday this autumn. At the concert where the Estonian Sinfonietta, the Estonian Percussion Group and the New Liszt Ferenc Chamber Choir will be conducted by Erki Pehk, his art will be celebrated with a selection from his iconic compositions. This will also be an occasion for the world premiere of a new work by Riho Esko Maimets, himself an Estonian composer and an admirer of Arvo Pärt’s work, which he knows intimately.
The festival organizes its programme in the spirit of the outstanding quality, diversity of genres and richness of forms that distinguish its namesake’s oeuvre, but it also seeks to throw a new light on the priceless riches of classical Hungarian culture and make them accessible for today’s audiences. Toldi is the Budapest Dance Theatre’s production, with choreography by Alexandra Sághy and Attila Tókos, which brings the story of János Arany’s character closer to today’s young audiences through a fusion of music, movement and film.

Compagnia Finzi Pasca, the Lugano-based, world-famous company present another extraordinary piece of physical theatre with their TITIZÉ – A Venetian Dream. To ensure that no one will miss out on it, the spectacular show, which is full of acrobatic elements and evokes the surreal atmosphere of the Venice carnival, will be performed five times at the Festival Theatre in Müpa Budapest.

The programme of the festival would not be complete without some important work from Liszt’s own oeuvre, and what the National Theatre Košice will bring to Budapest is not even a well-known, frequently performed piece, but a true rarity of musical history. The composer himself was convinced that the opera he had written at the age of thirteen had been destroyed in a fire, but it in fact survived, much to our luck, and exactly two hundred years after its premiere, the audience can again enjoy the varied and melodious music of Don Sanche, or The Castle of Love.

Tickets are now on sale for the first events of the Liszt Fest.