Leon Botstein

The building which houses the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, now just renovated and restored, is perhaps the finest and most beautiful Conservatory of Music, certainly in Europe, if not the world. The elegance and nuance of the architecture and the fabulous acoustics of its concert hall are unforgettable. 

But what is most remarkable is that what has made the Liszt Academy one of the great schools of music for more than a century is not its building. Its beauty has been outshone by what has happened inside it.  The teachers and students have been the source of the Academy's excellence.

The Liszt Academy continues today the high standard of artistry set by its founder Franz Liszt; but it has also maintained Liszt's unusual spirit of care and generosity to students. Not all great artists care about teaching or have the gift for teaching. Liszt possessed both attributes, and he insured that his commitment to combining artistry with pedagogy would be part of the birthright of the Academy.

It is therefore not surprising that the Academy has had an unparalleled number of great artist-teachers, including Ferenc Erkel, Odon Mihalovich, Jeno Hubay, Bela Bartok, Erno Dohnanyi, Zoltan Kodaly, and Leo Weiner.  Its students have triumphed all over the world as performers and composers.

The sustained vitality of musical life in Hungary is in large part the consequence of the work of the Liszt Academy, and in turn, the contributions to world culture from Hungary in music, from Liszt to Ligeti and Kurtag, are one of the resilient sources of pride for the Hungarian nation. May the Liszt Academy flourish and maintain its noble standards in music and great traditions of pedagogy!