By now a tradition, Concerto Budapest dedicates a concert series to the classic masterpieces of Hungarian music and its many values well worth discovering, its contemporary novelties and specialties of the last century, furthermore, domestic productions marking the meeting points of various worlds of genres and performers. And it is by far from the first time that András Keller and colleagues have offered us all this wealth of universal musical heritage condensed into a single festival. We are talking about the Hungarian Gems Series, which in the wake of last year’s resounding success now features – over the course of one day – the music of Bartók, Kodály, Hubay, Liszt, and László Dubrovay all for the listening pleasure of Liszt Academy audiences. 

″With Mozart, you can help the world. There is a term that fully applies to his music, which might sound somewhat commonplace, yet it’s true: ″eternal″. It is a marvel of human culture, infinite like the universe.” – proclaims the Kossuth Prize and Prima Primissima Award-winning musical director of Concerto Budapest, András Keller, the mastermind behind the Mozart Day and also its Artistic Director, who compiled this year’s thematic concert day with great versatility and many colours.

We can enjoy the fruits of Mozart’s rich oeuvre – ranging from chamber music to concertos and symphonies – in four concerts. The audience can relish his Symphonies No. 38 in D major nicknamed ″Prague″, No. 39 in E-flat major, No. 40 in G minor and No. 41 in C major ″Jupiter″ as well as his Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat major, his Piano Concertos in C minor and D minor, his Piano Quartet in G minor and Piano Quintet in E-flat major.

CLICK for the online stream of the Opening Concert at 5:45 pm on 5 March

CLICK for the online stream of the Closing Concert at 7:30 pm on 5 March

As András Keller commented in an interview, ″What makes Mozart Day so unique is that we shower our greatest love on it.″ And this time, it will take place in collaboration with such fellow artists as Gábor Takács-Nagy, the event’s host and guest conductor, Mikhail Pletnev, the resident soloist of Season 2022/23 of Concerto Budapest, violinists Barnabás Kelemen and Katalin Kokas, the Keller Quartet and the instrumentalists of the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra and Concerto Budapest. Since 2018, the orchestra has dedicated an all-day concert series each year to the eternal favourite of classical music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, or rather, to our shared and unquenchable love for Mozart. As two hundred years ago, Franz Schubert described the day he spent with the music of his great and profoundly admired predecessor, ″A light, bright, fine day will remain throughout my whole life. As from afar, the magic notes of Mozart's music still gently haunts me.″ We will most likely have similar sensations recalling this spring Sunday spent with this great master.

By now a tradition, Concerto Budapest dedicates a concert series to the classic masterpieces of Hungarian music and its many values well worth discovering, its contemporary novelties and specialties of the last century, furthermore, domestic productions marking the meeting points of various worlds of genres and performers. And it is by far from the first time that András Keller and colleagues have offered us all this wealth of universal musical heritage condensed into a single festival. We are talking about the Hungarian Gems Series, which in the wake of last year’s resounding success now features – over the course of one day – the music of Bartók, Kodály, Hubay, Liszt, and László Dubrovay all for the listening pleasure of Liszt Academy audiences. The programme comprising a total of three concerts sees the appearance on the stage of young talents, the “stars of the future”, such as Gáspár Kelemen, Teo Gertler, Dániel Ali Lugosi, Mihály Boros, and word wide famous performers of the classical music and opera scene including Dénes Várjon, Gábor Bretz, Szilvia Vörös. In addition, Muzsikás Ensemble in cooperation with Mária Petrás and Kámán Balogh will be representing the Hungarian folk music tradition and giving a musical-cultural profundity to the Hungarian Gems Series event.

“Eternal serenity, fickle passion, / majestic composure: Mozart speaks” These are the lines written by a young Dezső Kosztolányi in his verse prologue dedicated to the opening of a concert in Subotica, and these lines would be equally apt to usher in this year’s Concerto Budapest concert series marking Mozart Day, a tradition with the ensemble since 2018. Our immortal favourite speaks to us in the morning, afternoon and evening on the first Sunday in April: in the Grand Hall, Solti Hall and Cupola Hall of Liszt Academy.

“The purpose of Mozart Day is ‘only’ to make us all happy using this marvellous, inexhaustible musical source,” is how in an earlier interview András Keller expressed the modest and yet most promising intent of the event, and realization of this objective is being served by such brilliant musicians as Evgeni Koroliov, Gábor Takács-Nagy, György Vashegyi, Andrea Rost, Kristóf Baráti and Izabella Simon, who promises once again a ‘Magic Class’ for the children’s matinee. A symphony and piano quartet, arias and concertos, string quartets and sonatas, indeed the Mass in C minor, perfect even in its unfinished state, are all on the programmes of concerts that follow one after the other throughout the day.

Understanding, wonderment, profundity, discoveries and rediscoveries: this is what the Day of Listening promises the public and, indeed, the performers in what is the fifth occasion the festival has been arranged, this year on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 November 2021. It is a tradition for music programs on the Day of Listening to be staged in several venues at the same time, during which visitors meet András Keller and artists of Concerto Budapest as well as superlative soloists and chamber musicians. The two-day music event by Concerto Budapest is designed to focus attention primarily on contemporary music and the creative knock-on influences arising between masterpieces of different ages. 40 works, including seven world premières and three premières in Hungary, are squeezed into 11 concerts on two days. The program runs from works by Beethoven through Debussy via legendary contemporary artists as György Kurtág all the way to the youngest composer generation.