Budapest Spring Festival

M
űcsarnok Museum of Contemporary Art – Dorottya Gallery

Lajos Csontó works mainly with photos and video, in which text also plays an important part. This exhibition will present a further developed version of his photo-video work entitled Parasite. Faces of people from different times and cultures fade into one another, suggesting that no one exists alone without influences and experiences. The full work consists of five projected films and a series of photos in which the half-faces of strangers are combined to form a complete face. Csontó plays with the concept of strangers by bringing them into intimate contact.

The Muzsikás ensemble, which has been active for three decades, makes traditional Hungarian folk music a special experience. Popular in Europe, the U.S. and Japan, the group is quite versatile, combining improvisation with the traditional mode of performance and mixing musical genres. They have been at home in music festivals of all types and were the first group to have folk music accepted as an independent style on equal footing with all other genres. The group regularly performs at the various children’s dance houses held around Budapest in addition to large concerts. The group has won numerous prestigious awards.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the European premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, a semi-staged concert performance has been prepared for theater lovers. The first performance of this now long-time classic was given in London’s West End in 1958.  It has been staged in Hungary since 1969. As a special feature, the Kiégő Izzók visual team has created inventive projections and visual elements to add color to the performance. This is not the same old, but very loved, staging of the musical, but a refreshed tribute to an evergreen stage production.

A world music concert in memory of the Hunyadi Family, this event was created with the ideals of the family at heart. Folklore has survived deep in the traditions of the various ethnic groups living in the region and still today folk singers present us with the tales of our past. In this anniversary year of King Matthias, much emphasis has been placed on his reign and the Renaissance ideals he brought to Europe. The best foreign folksingers and musicians have been invited to perform contemporary world music alongside Hungarian representatives of early music in a celebration of the Hunyadis.

On a special night celebrating Hungarian jazz, the 2008 Gábor Szabó Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented, to be followed by a concert given by the recipient. The program goes beyond this with additional performances by the Imre Kőszegi Quintet, the Free Style Chamber Orchestra, the Mihály Dresh Quartet, the Fusio Group, students of the Ferenc Erkel Jazz Conservatory and the jazz department of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music. For lovers of jazz, this is a chance to get acquainted with some of the leading Hungarian jazz groups as well as up and coming young musicians.

José Limón was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century American modern dance movement. His name is forever preserved in the technique he developed, which is still widely used throughout the world, as well as in the company he founded more than sixty years ago. As the guests of honor at the 2008 Budapest Spring Festival, the José Limón Dance Company continues to preserve and cultivate his masterpieces and legacy. His creations are

marked by passion, complex lighting, deep morality and social responsibility. His compositions reflect his image of religion and society with a great deal of sensitivity.

What else is needed for an operetta but wonderful melodies, an exciting story and lots of love? You are sure to encounter all of these elements when a piece by Franz Lehár is staged. This is especially so in the case of The Merry Widow with its world famous melody and bitter-sweet love story. This is a tale of a love born and revived with great difficulty, set against the background of a small South-East European state where politicians are maneuvering to cope with an economic crisis for their own survival and that of their country. Having first played in Budapest in 1906, the production has had great success since.

A guest performance of the State Hungarian Theater of Kolozsvár/Cluj, Gianni Schicchi is undoubtedly one of the most morbid comedies in all opera.  Silviu Purcărete is a director well known in Hungary as well, and the public has had the opportunity to see his work on a number of occasions. His work is generally characterized by daring visual effects and a free handling of the text. His approach to Puccini’s work does not follow traditional opera clichés either. For one thing, the large opera normally used by Puccini has been replaced by a smaller ensemble. He has also increased the size of the family for an amusing dynamic.