Celebrating Hungarian Music in Cleveland

The music of Liszt and Bartók and contemporary pieces were in the focus of the programme that was offered on master courses and concerts co-organised by the Liszt Academy and its outstanding, friendly and open partner institute in Cleveland. Two of our violinist students, László Nyári and Géza Szajkó, joined the orchestra which held its public concert on 19 November in the prestigious Severance Hall, headquarters of Cleveland Orchestra and once "home" to the legendary György Széll. The "Overture" of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet was followed by Bartók's Viola Concerto making the event homage to the great Hungarian composer. In the second part of the concert the audience could enjoy Strauss's large-scale piece, Thus Spake Zarathustra, performed by a more than 110 member university orchestra and conducted by Kimbo Ishii.

Professor Szabadi selected Bartók works to his university concert (his partners were by János Balázs and Péter Kiss on piano) and mainly his string pieces for his public master course and individual classes for CIM students. On Professor Nádor's master course Liszt works played a central role and he concentrated on Liszt and Bartók pieces on his individual classes, too. Both public concerts attracted a respectable number of audiences. In the evening November 21, the University Concert Hall gave place to a remarkable concert displaying solo piano pieces by Hungarian composers. Besides two students from Cleveland (performing a Liszt and a Bartók piece), János Balázs captivated the audience with his virtuous yet effortless play when he animated emblematic Liszt pieces, crowned by a Dubrovay paraphrase. Previously that day János had displayed his talent in improvisation by contributing to the lecture of Dana Gooley, a well-knowned Liszt researcher on "Franz Liszt and the Virtue of Improvisation". Professor Szabadi and  Beáta Furka, Head of International Affairs and Development, were invited to Principal Smirnoff's Cultural Seminar where they had a discussion with the students on Hungarian culture, and, in particular, on the role of music in Hungarian cultural identity.
 

Click on the picture to see the whole gallery of the project!

The Liszt-reflections concert took place in the evening 22 November which was to show how late Liszt chamber music resonates in recent contemporary reflections of young composers and musicians, also, to draw a picture of how the magical yet meditative world of Liszt's late works inspire the art of contemporary young composers. Due to the shortness of time it meant a great challenge for the students working together in the recently formed chamber ensembles. Out of the five contemporary pieces by young Hungarian composers, all related to Liszt Academy, the most ambitious one, Máté Bella's "Study" [Tanulmány] was taught for the mixed string quartet by the composer himself. The audience appreciated the great effort put into the performance of such a challenging piece, which, in return, received the highest regards. The CIM contributed to the evening with two excellent works of local composer students: it was fascinating to see how different their approach to the same pieces was compared to that of their Hungarian colleagues. Together with three professors on behalf of CIM, namely Keith Fitch, Annie Fullard, Kathryn Brown, Péter Kiss took part in the learning and rehearsal process. The full-house concert was a great success, receiving genuine appreciation from the audience.

Members of the Hungarian community in Cleveland were invited to all programmes held during the week and were present at each concert in great numbers and expressed their enthusiasm for the high-quality programmes and productions not only by their presence but also by their warm hospitality: after the closing concert they treated the delegation to Hungarian dishes.

The Cleveland Institute of Music was an excellent partner in managing and implementing the collaboration by successfully mobilizing its staff, students, administration and by involving the local audience in great numbers. Their summary of the week was a highlight on their website http://cim.edu/about/article?id=2661. Special thanks for their support to President Joel Smirnoff, Dean Adrian Daly and Dean Sandra Shapiro.

The project was supported by the Hungary Initiatives Foundation Arts & Culture Programme.

The programme and the performers of the Liszt reflections concert:

F. Liszt: Angelus
Péter Kiss (piano)

M. Balogh: Ealg!snu
Maria Parrini  (piano)

A. Emszt: Late Moments
George Bolton Ellenberg (piano)

F. Liszt: Angelus (transcription for string quartet)
M. Bella: Tanulmany
László Nyári (violin); Géza Szajkó (violin); Jessi Pasternak (viola); Daniel Lim (cello); Tatum Spears (soprano)

F. Liszt: La Lugubre gondola
Jinjoo Cho (violin); Péter Kiss (piano)

A. Stock: Ruled by Caprice
Jinjoo Cho (violin); Daniel Overly (piano)

F. Liszt: Elegie No. 2
R. Ott: Furioso e lamentoso
Kris Duke (cello); Péter Kiss (piano)

F. Liszt: Am Grabe Richard Wagners
László Nyári (violin); Géza Szajkó (violin); Ignacio Cuello (viola); Brian Klickman (cello); Shelly Du (harp)                                   

A. Cooke: Susurrant
Paul Kim, Kevin Tompkins (violin); Jessi Pasternak (viola); Daniel Lim (cello); Shelly Du (harp);  Maggie Morrison (piano)

Á. Solti: At Liszt's Grave
László Nyári, Géza Szajkó (violin); Ignacio Cuello (viola); Brian Klickman (cello); Shelly Du (harp); Péter Kiss (piano)