Töröld le a könnyeidet!

Kusser: 2 Serenatas for the Dublin Court

BRASS 5

Chopin, F.: Polonaises and the Mazurkas without Opus Numbers

A DAL nélkül…

HUNGARIAN JAZZ HISTORY, VOL. 17: Jazz Dance from Hungary

After three years Zsuzsa Koncz, one of the best known Hungarian pop singer and artists, is releasing a new album, her 38th studio recording. The music is extreme and contemporary, with lyrics from Kriszta Tóth, János Bródy and Attila József, among others. A special point of interest is the two previously unpublished songs by Bódi László Cipo being sung by Zsuzsa Koncz! The album has became a Diamond album in less than 3 months in Hungary.

By the early 19th century, Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) had already become watchwords amongst classical composers and in the classical music world. Their compositions were widely known and highly appreciated from the onset of their careers and are worshipped among the best, even today. The quartets featured on the present album stand out even from the rich output of chamber music works of these two masters: they are characterized by exuberant energy, diverse colors and are full of imaginative musical ideas.

“The aim of this recording is not just to be a musicological curiosity, but to arouse the audience’s awareness of pieces and composers who have not yet been recorded, or are played less frequently; to inspire my colleagues to practice and master the special techniques in these works, and to show the way for interpretations of the works of Hungarian and Transylvanian composers, an interpretation which as well as the traditions of the Hungarian string school, draws “only from clear mountain springs” through personal relationships.” (Ildikó Szabó) Acclaimed for her musical intellect and imagination coupled with technical virtuosity, Ildiko? Szabo? is a laureate of the Pablo Casals International Cello Competition where she was the winner of the 2nd Prize, the Audience Award, and 7 Special Prizes. She is also a top prize winner of the German Music Competition, TONALi, Popper International Competition, Janigro International Competition and Liezen International Competition.

With the selection of this album, enthusiasts of Baroque music have an insight into the highly particular and individual style of Jean-Jacques-Baptiste Anet, a French violinist- composer, now hardly known but in his time considered to be one of the greatest violinists. He was born in Paris. He studied with Arcangelo Corelli for four years in Rome. Afterwards, he returned to Paris about 1700, and was met with the greatest success. There can be little doubt that by his example the principles of the great Italian school of violin-playing were first introduced into France. Probably owing to the jealousy of his French colleagues Anet soon left Paris again, and is said to have spent the rest of his life as conductor of the private band of a nobleman in Poland. He published three sets of sonatas for the violin. This release showcases sonatas for violin and basso-continuo.

Szabadnak születtél 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.

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.

Mozart’s first three full-fledged piano trios were composed in his most prolific period: in the summer and autumn of 1786. At that time he had spent five years in Vienna, and the aristocratic circles were beginning to recognize his extraordinary genius. He gave solo piano recitals, worked as a conductor on a regular basis, rehearsed his own compositions, received private students, and was involved in the social life of the imperial capital. Two years later Mozart added three new grandiose piano trios to the repertory of the chamber music genre. They are preceded by two pieces: the first is one of the composer’s early chamber works, followed by a piece compiled by Abbé Stadler from various musical fragments and entitled Three movements for piano trio. Pianist Marta Gulyas holds the Liszt Prize, and has been a teacher at the Liszt Academy since 1978 and a professor at the Madrid Royal Conservatory since 1991. Two time MIDEM award-winner violinist Vilmos Szabadi works as an associate professor at the Liszt Academy of Music as the Head of Violin Department. As a leading violoncellist of his generation Csaba Onczay has been awarded several prestigious prizes including the Liszt Prize, the Meritorious Artist Award, and the Kossuth Prize. He currently teaches at the Liszt Academy as a professor emeritus. Viola player Mate Szucs performs with renowned musicians and ensembles across the world, and has taught viola at the Karajan Academy of the orchestra since 2013. He has been teaching at the Liszt Academy since 2015.

This two-album collection featuring some of the best known and most successful songs of her career comes from perhaps the greatest Hungarian pop legend. Zsuzsa Koncz's career started after her performance in the Ki mit tud? talent show of 1962. She has been performing with various bands and musicians over the years, most notably Illés and János Bródy. In the 1970s, she made several successful tours abroad, mainly in Eastern Bloc countries as well as in West Germany (sometimes under the names Shusha Koncz and Jana Koncz in German-speaking countries), but also in France, the U.S., and Japan. She remains extremely popular in Hungary, with some of her songs now part of Hungarian folklore, among them: 'A Kárpáthyék lánya', 'Ha én rózsa volnék', and 'Valahol egy lány.'

This new release features Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's most successful novel about loneliness, friendship, love and sorrow, read in Hungarian by Robert Alföld. The Little Prince was first published in English and French in the US by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943, and posthumously in France following the liberation of France as Saint-Exupéry's works had been banned by the Vichy Regime. The story follows a young prince who visits various planets in space, including Earth, and addresses themes of loneliness, friendship, love, and loss. Despite it's style as a children's book, The Little Prince makes several observations about life and human nature. The Little Prince became Saint-Exupéry's most successful work, selling an estimated 140 million copies worldwide which makes it one of the best-selling and most translated books ever published.

Zsigmond Moricz is one of Hungary’s greatest modern novelists. Be Faithful Unto Death is the moving story of a precocious schoolboy who is growing up in a boarding school in the city of Debrecen. When he is falsely accused of stealing a winning lottery ticket, he undergoes and grows from a series of torments. First published in 1921, the novel is full of impeccable writing and vivid detail. It is this writing that creates a feeling of universal experience in this story, which has been widely read and studied even outside of Hungary. On this release, the original translation is heard in audiobook form, read by Mari Jaszai Award-winning actor and director Alfoldi Robert.

This album features a small part of Judit Rajk’s rich repertoire, Hungarian compositions of the 20th and 21st centuries, starting with Zoltán Kodály’s folksong arrangements, through Barnabás Dukay’s large-scale monody, Zoltán Jeney’s brief, resigned lament, to the sensitive song on the death of children by Máté Balogh. Although the bases of the works in this recording differ, they share one point in common: they use a small slice of the past in a daring and unique manner, whether it is actually used or merely as an element of inspiration. The challenge for the performer is to decide how to enrich this “past”, this time of tradition, with her own tempo.

Rivka Golani’s portrait album invites listeners on a musical journey spanning the 1820s to the late 1940s; its style ranges from early romanticism to post romanticism. Another of the music peculiarities is that it shows how the millennial heritage of Jewish culture enriched European art music. Rivka Golani is recognized as one of the outstanding modern violists. More than 300 works have so far been composed for her, including 77 concertos: a record matched by no other violist in history.

For us, piano duets are a particularly special form of musical expression, somewhere between solo playing and chamber music. If the two-headed dragon of fairytales were to exist, he would probably feel something like a duo playing piano duets. Two performers on one instrument, who have to function as a complete unit. Every musical thought and idea, every feeling and motion must immediately be transformed into a shared intention. Meanwhile other obstacles to be overcome include a slightly awkward position at the keyboard, and the fact that only one player uses the pedals of the piano. And yet playing duets is such an incredible source of inspiration, the benefit is reaped in all other genres of music-making. Great masters composed extremely generously for this combination. Starting with the masterpieces of Mozart up to the present day, piano duets have a rich, varied repertoire at their fingertips. (Izabella Simon, Dénes Várjon)

The genesis of the oratorio The Seven Last Words of Christ is one of the most exciting stories in music history. In 1786, Haydn (who by then was already a famous composer throughout Europe) was commissioned by José Saluz de Santamaria, a priest from Cadiz, to write a piece of purely instrumental music for Holy Week. The maestro himself considered the piece to be one of his finest achievements. The instrument on this recording is a copy of an instrument made in 1805 by Viennese fortepiano maker Anton Walter.

These three figures of turn-of-the-century music, Ravel, Franck and Debussy, do not prompt listeners to hear their works from afar. Their music winds it's way into the innermost channels of human imagination, and through the sound, listeners may feel that they are the protagonists in this shared artistic experience. Pianist Balázs Fülei holds the Liszt Ferenc Prize, the Artisjus Prize and the Junior Prima Prize. His repertoire includes over thirty pia-no concertos, including all the concertos of Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms, and Bartók. He is an associate professor and head of department at the Academy of Music, Budapest, and gives masterclasses worldwide. He is the founder and artistic director of the Echo Summer Academy, which is held annually in the Károlyi Mansion in Fehérvárcsurgó.

Entitled Vienna Evenings, this recording contains music linked to the imperial city and the piano, and to the enviable bourgeois musical culture of these time periods. The album features Schubert's piano pieces, the waltzes of Liszt and Schubert, and the waltzes of Johann Strauss re-imagined for the piano. Gábor Farkas received his MA and doctorate at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Zoltán Kocsis was his master-teacher. After the academy he studied at the International Piano Academy, Lake Como, Italy, with William Grant Naboré. In 2015 he won the Grand Prix of the competition announced by the New York Concert Artist & Associates, as a result of which he could debut in Carnegie Hall in 2016.

The backbones of the present recording are Schubert’s two late violin-piano compositions: the Rondo in B minor and the Fantasia in C major, both commissioned by virtuoso Czech violinist Josef Slavík. Particularly interesting is the fact, that the violin-piano paraphrase of the song Sei mir gegrüsst is performed twice: once as a variation section of the Fantasia, once in H. Sitt's arrangement. Violinist Júlia Pusker is an established young musician who made it into the final of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2019. Her partner here is Zoltán Fejérvári, Junior Prima Prize-winning pianist, winner of the 2017 Montreal International Piano Competition.

HANDEL: Cantatas (HWV 82, 142 and 150)

Ferenc Santa Jr. Gypsy Band