VERSEIT MONDJA: WEORES SANDOR

VERSEIT MONDJA: BABITS MIHALY,

SIMOGASS, NAPSUGAR!

BACH FAMILY: Motets by the Bach Family

Come on Primas

HAYDN: Wind Divertimentos

SELMECZI: Religious Songs / String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2

Please Sir! (1916) is one of the first novels of the popular Hungarian author, Frigyes Karinthy (1887 - 1938), which tells his school years with a lot of humor and empathy. Endre Illes wrote: "All Karinthy's writings have the violent, blinding brilliance of a spluttering Christmas sparkler. He wrote several thousand sketches, hundreds of stories, a few novels and two volumes of poetry. He experimented with literary forms and techniques: plays, philosophical studies, anecdotes, reviews, articles. But no matter what he wrote, his message was always as fresh and sensitive as the first flash of the idea which inspired it. One could say that his real medium was the idea, the instant spark." The work is read here by P�l M�csai.

In flute playing French music and its performing style are crucial. We gain a taste of this on the third disc of the seven- volume series that surveys more than a century and a half. Central to this is the turn of the century, which brought a new golden age of the flute in Paris. The characteristic pastoral voices, playfulness and melancholy of the period are complemented by the dramatic energy of the instrument, thanks to Pierne´. A graduate of the Budapest Liszt Academy of Music, Gergely Ittzes is one of the most proactive personalities of the flute scene. While being a researcher of his instrument and composer of many experimental flute works applying the most up to date flute techniques, especially polyphonic playing, he does not specialize in contemporary music only, but tries to connect it with tradition. His large repertoire includes all the important works written for his instrument and a great number of rarities from the past centuries and today. In addition to classical and modern music, several other styles have also influenced his musical idiom, like jazz and free improvisation.

This is the second volume of this series of seven albums with Gergely Ittzes. This volume embraces the Romantic Period: a whole century starting with elegant and improvisatory works from the age of flourishing bourgeois musical life, followed by the typical 19th century programme music of Reinecke, and ending with a lesser known but quite powerful and colorful piece of Jugendstil composed by the eccentric German composer, Karg-Elert. Gergely Ittzes won several prizes and awards including the Aleksander Tansman International Competition of Musical Personalities.

K�lm�n Miksz�th was a major Hungarian novelist, journalist, and politician. Born in Szklabonya in Upper Hungary, he studied Law at the University of Budapest before becoming involved in journalism, writing for many Hungarian newspapers including the Pesti Hirlap. His early short stories were based on the lives of peasants and artisans, and were not widely read during his time. However, they demonstrated his skill in crafting humorous anecdotes, which would be developed in his later, more popular works. Many of his novels contained social commentary and satire, and towards the end of his life they became increasingly critical of the aristocracy and the burden he believed the latter placed on Hungarian society. On this release, several of his short stories are read in Hungarian by Hungarian actor Sandor Gaspar, who has appeared in more than seventy films since 1978.

Jeno Rejto (1905-1943) was a journalist, prolific author of cabaret skits, and a steadfast practitioner of comic thrillers with unforgettable characters and one-liners that together have become part and parcel of Hungarian literary folklore. Delightfully grotesque parodies of the detective novels that had their heyday at the time, Rejto wrote most of his books in the 1930s under the pen-name of P. Howard. The Lost Battleship is one of Rejto's most popular novels. It is read here by Hungarian actor Kern Andras.

Rivka Golani is one of the leading virtuoso violists of modern times. Her mastery of the instrument combined with superb musicianship has been a source of inspiration to many players and composers. More than 300 pieces have been written for her, including over 80 concertos to date - with several more in the pipeline. She has performed as soloist with many orchestras throughout the world including the Boston Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Hong Kong Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan, Montreal Symphony and the Toronto Symphony. The BBC Music Magazine included her in it's list of the 200 most important instrumentalists and the five most important violists currently concertizing. As a teacher, Golani draws students from around the world to her master classes. She holds a professorship at Trinity College of Music in London and has also taught at Birmingham Conservatoire, the University of Toronto, and London's Royal Academy of Music.

Szabadnak sz�lett�l is the title of the new album from Zsuzsa Koncz, one of the most famous Hungarian pop singers in the world. Zsuzsa Koncz's career began after her performance in a 1962 talent show. Since then she has performed with various bands and musicians, most notably Illes and Janos Brody. She went on several successful tours abroad during the 1970s, with performances in France, West Germany, the United States, and Japan. She is known for her lyrics which were sometimes highly critical of Hungary's pre-1990 political system. She is the recipient of the 1977 Liszt Prize, the 2001 Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur, and the 2008 Kossuth Prize.

Jeno Rejto (1905-1943) was a journalist, prolific author of cabaret skits, and the steadfast practitioner of comic thrillers with unforgettable characters and one-liners that together have become part and parcel of Hungarian literary folklore. The Frontier Garrison is one of Rejto's most popular novels. Andras Kern is a Hungarian actor, producer, writer, singer and comedian. He graduated from the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest in 1970. He has appeared in numerous films, has written and appeared in many radio sitcoms as well as in many popular Hungarian TV shows such as Heti Hetes and Activity Show.