The Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra will celebrate its 60th anniversary in March 2023. To mark the occasion,two consecutive season tickets will be available for the 2022/23 season.

For the first series, season tickets will be on sale from 25 May to 25 June 2022 with a pre-sale discount.

Date and programme of concerts:

1 October 2022 – Saturday 7:30 pm
Season tickets, Liszt Academy/1
Soloist and conductor: István Várdai (cello)

Programme:

Haydn: Cello Concerto in D major, No. 1, Hob. VIIb:2
Haydn: Cello Concerto in C major, No. 2, Hob. VIIb:1
****
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 "Eroica", Op. 55

One of the most renowned chamber music ensembles is preparing a real feat with its world-class artistic director, cellist István Várdai: following two Haydn pieces, the second part of the concert will feature a large orchestra, conducted by Várdai, playing Beethoven’s monumental Eroica Symphony.

During the first part of the concert, the audience will be able to witness the collective thinking and the perfectly honed collaboration that has been established between the artistic director and the ensemble over the course of two and a half years, and to enjoy the true musical soaring coming from such a solid foundation.

Following the break, fresh, new elements of larger-scale musical constructions shall enhance the experience.

On the International Day of Music, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra will shine a light on what it considers to be the foundation of its artistic credo: the timeless beauty of classical music and the professional support of young artists.

As part of the ongoing Masterpiece project, on the season-opening concert open to holders of the seasonal ticket, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra will once again share the stage with the students of the university, its mentored and talented young musicians.

9 November 2022 – Wednesday 7:30 pm
Season tickets, Liszt Academy/2
Soloist: Benjamin Grosvenor (piano)

Programme:
Mozart: Serenade K525 (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik), K. 525
Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1 in g minor, Op. 25
****
Arensky: String Quartett No. 2, Op. 35

The first part of the concert may truly be considered traditional in many senses, featuring two audience favourites, playing which the orchestra will have to fight hard for success, especially, because of the pieces’ popularity. Following the world’s most famous serenade, Little Night Music, notes of a Mendelssohn concerto will hit the air. The English guest of the ensemble, Benjamin Grosvenor, will perform in Budapest for the first time, after having achieved great success in the most important venues of the international music scene with his sensitive and mature piano playing.

The second part of the concert, however, will offer some peculiarities: with his 1895 string quartet, Anton Stepanovich Arensky broke away from the rules of the genre previously thought to have set in stone, and instead of two violins, a viola and a cello, he created a piece for a violin, a viola and two cellos, attracting considerable critical acclaim. Yet in this way, the magnificent work portrays the lines of force in an unconventional way. Performed by the chamber orchestra, the emphasis will shift even more towards the lower registers with István Várdai, the ensemble’s world-class artistic director playing one of the cello parts and Ottó Kertész, a Liszt Prize-winning cellist and the orchestra’s outstanding soloist playing the other part.

4 December 2022 – Sunday 7:30 pm
Season tickets, Liszt Academy/3
Soloist: Liza Ferschtman (violin), Pablo Barragán (clarinet)

Programme:
Prokofiev: Classical Symhony, Op. 25
Hartmann: Chamber Concerto for Clarinet, String Quartet and String Orchestra
****
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61

The Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra keeps building thoughtfully: it comes up with something fresh as well as interesting from time to time. Tastefully mixing the familiar with the new, the ensemble aims to insert concertos little known in this country, but played more and more frequently abroad, between two timeless classics.

The orchestra’s ever-growing fan base might have a feeling that the concerts are opening windows onto the trends and movements of the international music life and, of course, the artists who play a key role in such developments. Our guest soloist from the Netherlands is a passionate musician, who will also take the lead in the Hartmann and the Beethoven concerto, thereby assuring to leave his mark on the musical formulation of the works.

16 January 2023 – Monday 7:30 pm
Season tickets, Liszt Academy/4
Soloist: Emmanuel Pahud (flute)

Programme:
Schumann: Drei Fantasiestücke, Op. 73 - arrangement
Mendelssohn: String Symphony No. 1, in C major
****
Fauré: Fantasie, Op. 79
C. Franck: Sonata in A major - arrangement for flute and string orchestra

Emmanuel Pahud has the virtue, typical of the greatest soloists, of not simply playing a piece, but telling stories through them. His brilliant technique and virtuosity, of course, is a prerequisite for this, but his stage charm and presence engaging all our senses is the result of this captivating musical storytelling role.

The fact that this works particularly well with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra has been proven by several highly successful concerts. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the most famous flautist of the recent decades has been invited to perform at the closing concert of the ensemble’s seasonal programme at the Academy of Music, which will also mark the start of a series of special events celebrating the 60th anniversary of its foundation.