Each year, ready to greet the warm season, Budapest Spring Festival celebrates arts with classical music and jazz concerts, dance performances, unique exhibitions and various tourist programs, offering a genuine festive atmosphere. On the 19th of March 2010 the event opens in Budapest for the thirtieth time, and although organizers don't intend to succumb to nostalgia, the Stravinsky Evening of the Győr Ballet will represent a reminder of the early days of the festival, taking inspiration from Classicism as well as Modernity.
Pillars of the festival for three decades, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Hungarian National Philharmonics will be there this year again with a Beethoven Evening and a Béla Bartók concert; then the Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra will bring to the final concert of the festival two world famous young artists: pianist Denis Matsuev and trumpet player Gábor Boldoczki.
The special guest of the event will be Denmark, a country known for its colourful culture that will present the Royal Danish Ballet and Hotel Pro Forma, a dance formation that defies genre classification. The show of the Ars Nova Copenhagen choir will blend archaic and modern in an unforgettable performance, and the Hungarian stage will also welcome the Danish National Chamber Orchestra. The gala opening event of the festival will be held in the Ludwig Museum, Palace of Arts (Ludwig Múzeum, Művészetek Palotája) where visitors can see the work of Danish artists and art groups in an exhibition entitled Power Games that examines current social and political problems as well as the role of contemporary art.
As usual, a whole buch of international artists and famous personalities will be part of the program, brought together at the Meeting of Worlds event: viola player Yuri Bashmet will play with the Moscow Soloists, there will be an aria recital by Uruguayan Erwin Schrott, a performance by the Italian ensemble Il Giardino Armonico and one by virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie, and a concert by Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance and the Florilegium early music ensemble. The audience will also be able to see Nigel Kennedy playing Baroque and jazz, Bach and Duke Ellington and will get to meet the master of stirring Andalusian rhythms and melodies, Paco de Lucía; lovers of Spain should definitely be a part of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía's Lorca evening and fans of modern dance must watch the Arnie Zane Dance Company.
The major project of the two weeks will be the fullest possible presentation of the work of Hungarian composer Ferenc Erkel, his birthday of 200 years ago marking a great musical history anniversary: six of his operas will be presented with interesting discussions before them.
Also, true to its traditions, the festival will try to serve its mission of encouraging social responsibility by introducing to the general public several artists of Rroma (Gypsy) origin.
Finally an International Theatre Festival will be organized as well, for the second time after last year's success - in cooperation with the National Theatre (Nemzeti Színház) organizers will welcome internationally acclaimed productions and different companies experimenting in the theatre genre.
This edition of the Budapest Spring Festival will end on the 5th of April - for the list of participants, for details about locations and venues, and information about dates and exact schedules you can see the event's website.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Harlem Globetrotters in Budapest
The famous basketball show of the Harlem Globetrotters team will be hosted by Papp László Sportaréna at 7 PM on the 23rd of March. The amazing jugglers of the basketball, who play around 300 matches each year all around the world and win almost all of them, come straight from the Madison Square Garden of New York and will entertain the audience with an excellent team-play worthy of the NBA, with fantastic tricks and an exhibition game that combines athleticism, theater and comedy.
Created in 1927 in Chicago, the team of professional basketball players chose their name a couple of years later, as a reminder of the major African-American community that resided in Harlem. Legend says that their remarkably unique sytle existed from the very beginning: whenever they had a nice advantage in the game, they started fooling around, making audiences laugh. Their first great success came in 1948 when, in front of eighteen thousand fans, they managed to beat the national champion, Minnesota Lakers - this was followed by a winning streak of 113 matches, making the team the best of the world.
Beginning with the fifties the team started living up to its name and toured the United States, then travelled around the globe, playing in front of huge crowds as well as an audinece of one person only: the Pope. They conquered the cinema screens with their acting skills, got a star on Hollywood Boulevard, and signed a contract with ABC, so all their shows can be recorded and broadcast at all times. During the next two decades the Harlem Globetrotters became part of history not only as far as sports myths are concerned: while American society was struggling with racial issues, they helped destroy cultural prejudices and shape the way Black people were perceived. In the nineties the team played for Nelson Mandela and became even more popular when they decided to offer for charity one dollar for each mile they travel during their tours.
Sometimes accused of not playing real basketball, they admit that to them humour and entertaining show elements are justas important as sport itself – but they always invite current top teams and players for a game, just to prove that they can still easily compete with the best. After showing the link between basketball and comedy, in more than twenty thousand matches and more than a hundred countries throught its career, the Harlem Globetrotters will surely impress Budapest viewers as well, with their technical feats as well as their buffoonery.
Created in 1927 in Chicago, the team of professional basketball players chose their name a couple of years later, as a reminder of the major African-American community that resided in Harlem. Legend says that their remarkably unique sytle existed from the very beginning: whenever they had a nice advantage in the game, they started fooling around, making audiences laugh. Their first great success came in 1948 when, in front of eighteen thousand fans, they managed to beat the national champion, Minnesota Lakers - this was followed by a winning streak of 113 matches, making the team the best of the world.
Beginning with the fifties the team started living up to its name and toured the United States, then travelled around the globe, playing in front of huge crowds as well as an audinece of one person only: the Pope. They conquered the cinema screens with their acting skills, got a star on Hollywood Boulevard, and signed a contract with ABC, so all their shows can be recorded and broadcast at all times. During the next two decades the Harlem Globetrotters became part of history not only as far as sports myths are concerned: while American society was struggling with racial issues, they helped destroy cultural prejudices and shape the way Black people were perceived. In the nineties the team played for Nelson Mandela and became even more popular when they decided to offer for charity one dollar for each mile they travel during their tours.
Sometimes accused of not playing real basketball, they admit that to them humour and entertaining show elements are justas important as sport itself – but they always invite current top teams and players for a game, just to prove that they can still easily compete with the best. After showing the link between basketball and comedy, in more than twenty thousand matches and more than a hundred countries throught its career, the Harlem Globetrotters will surely impress Budapest viewers as well, with their technical feats as well as their buffoonery.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Ben Hur Live in Budapest
After a memorable world premiere in London last November and after the original Budapest show scheduled for last December was postponed, the Ben Hur Live show finally reached the capital of Hungary on its travels around Europe. On the 27th and 28th of February the Papp László Sportaréna will host the stage adaptation of Lew Wallace's novel, produced by Franz Abraham, with music and narration by Stewart Copeland (the founder of The Police), a show that is the result of fifteen years of planning and hard work.
With themes of reconciliation as its fundamental element, the tale of Ben Hur is one of love and war, set against disputes between Jews, Christians and Romans. The name Ben Hur reminds us of legedary actor Charlton Heston and of the grand scene of the chariot-race from a film that is still one of the most successful ever made – the monumental live show is a 21st century Circus Maximus: the 360 degree design offers the audience an exceptional proximity to the events in the center of the 2500 square meter arena.
With more than 100 animals and 400 participants from about 20 contries (among them actors, extras, dancers, acrobats, engineers, stage hands, logisticians, animal trainers, costume tailors, propmen) the creative teams uses ultra-modern technical equipment and great special effects to captivate spectators. The bustling Arabic bazaar, the massive sea-battle with several galleys and pirate ships, gladiatorial combats culminating with the elecrtifying chariot-race with 5 quadrigas speeding across the arena, will fascinate all who join the journey to Judea, into the first century AD.
The world's biggest arena show, combining the impact of a rock concert, the interesting scences of a musical, the power of a theatre play and the spectacular sight of a Hollywood production, will surely offera night to remember to viewers of all ages.
Update: Unfortunately local organizers of the show have just announced that, because the production company is in financial trouble, the show is cancelled again and will probably be rescheduled sometime in September.
With themes of reconciliation as its fundamental element, the tale of Ben Hur is one of love and war, set against disputes between Jews, Christians and Romans. The name Ben Hur reminds us of legedary actor Charlton Heston and of the grand scene of the chariot-race from a film that is still one of the most successful ever made – the monumental live show is a 21st century Circus Maximus: the 360 degree design offers the audience an exceptional proximity to the events in the center of the 2500 square meter arena.
With more than 100 animals and 400 participants from about 20 contries (among them actors, extras, dancers, acrobats, engineers, stage hands, logisticians, animal trainers, costume tailors, propmen) the creative teams uses ultra-modern technical equipment and great special effects to captivate spectators. The bustling Arabic bazaar, the massive sea-battle with several galleys and pirate ships, gladiatorial combats culminating with the elecrtifying chariot-race with 5 quadrigas speeding across the arena, will fascinate all who join the journey to Judea, into the first century AD.
The world's biggest arena show, combining the impact of a rock concert, the interesting scences of a musical, the power of a theatre play and the spectacular sight of a Hollywood production, will surely offera night to remember to viewers of all ages.
Update: Unfortunately local organizers of the show have just announced that, because the production company is in financial trouble, the show is cancelled again and will probably be rescheduled sometime in September.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Modern French Paintings in Budapest
For another two months the Museum of Fine Arts (Szépművészeti Múzeum) will host a great exhibition of Impressionist and Abstract works that has opened in January and will end at the end of April. Called From Degas to Picasso, the event presents 55 works of art borrowed from the extraordinarily rich, internationally acclaimed collection of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.
The show tries to present an accurate picture of the development and most important trends in modern French painting but also to pay tribute to two outstanding Russian collectors active at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. About 60 years of achievements in painting will be on display, showing a brief summary of the history of arts in that fruitful period, based on the collection of two prominent Russian collectors: Ivan Morozov and Sergei Shchukin.
The Tsarist-era collections were confiscated during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and nationalized the following year, eventually being split between the Pushkin Museum and the State Hermitage Museums. Morozov used the profits from his successful textile business to gather one of the finest private collections of Impressionist and Modernist works. Shchukin, who was heir to a prosperous merchant family, was the more flamboyant of the two, opening his house and collection to young artists and members of the public on Sundays.
The Budapest exhibition provides a chronological overview of the most dynamic period in French art, presenting trends spanning six decades, from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth: prominent works of Impressionism and Symbolism, as well as the first avant-garde movements bearing the stamp of the Fauves and the Cubists. It includes selected masterpieces of some of the best known French painters of the period, including Gauguin, Manet, Picasso, Degas, Courbet, Cézanne, Rousseau, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh and Monet.
The show tries to present an accurate picture of the development and most important trends in modern French painting but also to pay tribute to two outstanding Russian collectors active at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. About 60 years of achievements in painting will be on display, showing a brief summary of the history of arts in that fruitful period, based on the collection of two prominent Russian collectors: Ivan Morozov and Sergei Shchukin.
The Tsarist-era collections were confiscated during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and nationalized the following year, eventually being split between the Pushkin Museum and the State Hermitage Museums. Morozov used the profits from his successful textile business to gather one of the finest private collections of Impressionist and Modernist works. Shchukin, who was heir to a prosperous merchant family, was the more flamboyant of the two, opening his house and collection to young artists and members of the public on Sundays.
The Budapest exhibition provides a chronological overview of the most dynamic period in French art, presenting trends spanning six decades, from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth: prominent works of Impressionism and Symbolism, as well as the first avant-garde movements bearing the stamp of the Fauves and the Cubists. It includes selected masterpieces of some of the best known French painters of the period, including Gauguin, Manet, Picasso, Degas, Courbet, Cézanne, Rousseau, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh and Monet.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Beethoven-Marathon in Budapest
An excellent opportunity for the lovers of classical music is the Beethoven-marathon organized in Budapest by the Palace of Arts (Művészetek Palotája) and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, on the 21st of February from early morning till late evening. Tickets for the concerts have been available sincs last November and are already all sold out, a fact that is meant to attract the attention of those interested, to be on time next year.
The first musical marathon of this kind was organized in 2008 and featured the amazing works of Tchaikovsky – following its huge success, the event of 2009 was devoted to Dvořák; as the protagonist of this year's edition the famous conductor Iván Fischer chose one of the most popular names of all time, Ludwig van Beethoven.
In the Bartók Béla National Concert Hall (Bartók Béla Nemzeti Hangversenyterem) and in the Festival Theatre (Fesztiválszínház) a total of eleven concerts will take place, each 45-minutes long: there will be symphony orchestra concerts in the first venue as well as chamber orchestra concerts in the second one, with a schedule that will allow the public to listen to all of them.
Connected to the concert, after the workshop discussions that took part at the beginning of the month (led by prominent representatives of different types of art and several invited guests), the program will also consist of free video screenings of symphonic concerts, opera performances and a feature film in the Lecture Hall, as well as an exhibition from the Beethoven Museum of Bonn.
The first musical marathon of this kind was organized in 2008 and featured the amazing works of Tchaikovsky – following its huge success, the event of 2009 was devoted to Dvořák; as the protagonist of this year's edition the famous conductor Iván Fischer chose one of the most popular names of all time, Ludwig van Beethoven.
In the Bartók Béla National Concert Hall (Bartók Béla Nemzeti Hangversenyterem) and in the Festival Theatre (Fesztiválszínház) a total of eleven concerts will take place, each 45-minutes long: there will be symphony orchestra concerts in the first venue as well as chamber orchestra concerts in the second one, with a schedule that will allow the public to listen to all of them.
Connected to the concert, after the workshop discussions that took part at the beginning of the month (led by prominent representatives of different types of art and several invited guests), the program will also consist of free video screenings of symphonic concerts, opera performances and a feature film in the Lecture Hall, as well as an exhibition from the Beethoven Museum of Bonn.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Chris Rea in Budapest
After Gary Moore's blues concert last autumn, another legend of the genre, singer and songwriter Chris Rea will appear on the stage of the Papp László Sportaréna on the 4th of February, as part of his world tour called Still So Far To Go 2010.
Chris Rea has created something unforgetable even with his debut album: a big hit in the United States in 1978, his first single Fool (If You Think It’s Over) is still one of the most beautiful ballads ever written. He became world famous during the eighties, when he released eight new albums, his major breakthrough being the well-known The Road to Hell, that enjoyed massive success and became a number one in his native England.
Suffering from pancreatitis and surviving an operation against all odds in 2001, Rea returned to his roots completely changing his musical direction and motivation – the result was Blue Guitars, a huge box set collection of 137 blues-inspired tracks on 11 records and completed with his own paintings as album covers. He has also set up his own record label, freeing himself from the pressure of big companies and their expectations and being able to release instrumental pieces, jazz-blues influenced songs and several critically acclaimed albums, as well as a great best of compilation; Rea has sold over 30 million albums worldwide over the past decades.
A new studio album of the guitarist will be released in June 2010 and he will also make his debut as an author with a long awaited autobiography. Until then the man so easy to recognise by his distinctive husky voice will be busy delighting audiences on a tour that has stared a few days ago in Germany – one of the 49 European cities where he stops is the Hungarian capital; tickets for the performance on Thursday at 7:30 PM are still available.
Chris Rea has created something unforgetable even with his debut album: a big hit in the United States in 1978, his first single Fool (If You Think It’s Over) is still one of the most beautiful ballads ever written. He became world famous during the eighties, when he released eight new albums, his major breakthrough being the well-known The Road to Hell, that enjoyed massive success and became a number one in his native England.
Suffering from pancreatitis and surviving an operation against all odds in 2001, Rea returned to his roots completely changing his musical direction and motivation – the result was Blue Guitars, a huge box set collection of 137 blues-inspired tracks on 11 records and completed with his own paintings as album covers. He has also set up his own record label, freeing himself from the pressure of big companies and their expectations and being able to release instrumental pieces, jazz-blues influenced songs and several critically acclaimed albums, as well as a great best of compilation; Rea has sold over 30 million albums worldwide over the past decades.
A new studio album of the guitarist will be released in June 2010 and he will also make his debut as an author with a long awaited autobiography. Until then the man so easy to recognise by his distinctive husky voice will be busy delighting audiences on a tour that has stared a few days ago in Germany – one of the 49 European cities where he stops is the Hungarian capital; tickets for the performance on Thursday at 7:30 PM are still available.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Gellért Bath - The Treasure of the Capital
The territory Budapest is located on has been known for the healing waters of its hot springs for centuries; during the Ottoman occupation Turks discovered the miraculous powers of local thermal waters too, and later on, beginning with the 15th century many baths were build around these sites. The place where Gellért Bath (Gellért Fürdő) is located today, used to be a mud-bath because of the fine silt that was pushed up by the water and settled at the bottom of the pools; its natural water supplies filled with calcium, magnesium, sodium and hydrogen-carbonate as well as sulphate-chloride, also with a significant content of fluoride ions, come from inside of Gellért Hill and are perfect for treating degenerative joint diseases, spinal deformities, chronic and sub-acute arthritis, circulatory disturbances, vasoconstriction, neuralgia and chronic diseases of respiratory organs.
The breathtaking Secession building of Hotel Gellért and its thermal bath, built in the elegant style of palaces from the beginning of the century, opened its gates in 1918, and was expanded with additional facilities during the next decade: a wave-bath in 1927 and an effervescent bath in 1934. Today its modernised version with a sitting pool, a whirlpool, a swimming complex, an adventure pool, a children's pool and a huge thermal bath department (with water temperatures of 36-38 degrees Celsius) is known all over the world and visited by thousands of foreign tourists all through the year.
The bath offers a total of 13 indoor and outdoor pools, a daytime outpatient hospital, complex medical therapies and high-standard spa treatments, and the following healtcare and wellness services: spa physician consultation, dental care, carbondioxide bath, mud-treatment, steam-bath and sauna, underwater water jet and traction-bath, electrotherapy, curative gymnastics, inhalation. Many different types of massages are offered, as well as fitness equipment, solarium, sunbed rental and many catering services - during the summer months even pool-side parties can be organized for groups of up to 1500 people.
The beautifully ornamented interior space of the bath is decorated with Zsolnay porcelain, wood structures, mosaics, statues and stain-glass windows, and is a perfect environment for recreation, regeneration and healing. Some of the sections, reconstructed after World War II have been recently renovated and equipped with state-of-the art water filtering and circulation devices, due to which the 41 degree water is cooled with a special method, without adding regular cold water. But thanks to the careful restauration works the original bourgeois atmosphere was succesfully kept, as was the tradition of having a separate thermal bath section for women and one for men – Gellért Bath deserves its place among the eight thermal establishments of the capital considered genuine national monuments.
The breathtaking Secession building of Hotel Gellért and its thermal bath, built in the elegant style of palaces from the beginning of the century, opened its gates in 1918, and was expanded with additional facilities during the next decade: a wave-bath in 1927 and an effervescent bath in 1934. Today its modernised version with a sitting pool, a whirlpool, a swimming complex, an adventure pool, a children's pool and a huge thermal bath department (with water temperatures of 36-38 degrees Celsius) is known all over the world and visited by thousands of foreign tourists all through the year.
The bath offers a total of 13 indoor and outdoor pools, a daytime outpatient hospital, complex medical therapies and high-standard spa treatments, and the following healtcare and wellness services: spa physician consultation, dental care, carbondioxide bath, mud-treatment, steam-bath and sauna, underwater water jet and traction-bath, electrotherapy, curative gymnastics, inhalation. Many different types of massages are offered, as well as fitness equipment, solarium, sunbed rental and many catering services - during the summer months even pool-side parties can be organized for groups of up to 1500 people.
The beautifully ornamented interior space of the bath is decorated with Zsolnay porcelain, wood structures, mosaics, statues and stain-glass windows, and is a perfect environment for recreation, regeneration and healing. Some of the sections, reconstructed after World War II have been recently renovated and equipped with state-of-the art water filtering and circulation devices, due to which the 41 degree water is cooled with a special method, without adding regular cold water. But thanks to the careful restauration works the original bourgeois atmosphere was succesfully kept, as was the tradition of having a separate thermal bath section for women and one for men – Gellért Bath deserves its place among the eight thermal establishments of the capital considered genuine national monuments.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Budapest Opera Ball 2010
The history of the Budapest Opera Ball dates back to the end of the 19th century, when copying the custom of aristocrats attending old court dances, the upper class organized these kinds of elegant dances almost every month, usually as a charity fundraiser; in 1934, following the Viennese model, the first edition of the official Opera Ball was held in the Hungarian capital.
Then there was a long pause and after an interval of 62 years the modern version of the ball was organized in February 1996 - soon it became the largest and most important social event for local celebrities. The annual tradition is kept alive at the end of each winter and it offers an excellent opportunity for the most famous representatives of the cultural, political, business and entertainment world to meet and capture the attention of the public.
On the last Saturday of every carnival season the stage and the auditorium of the State Opera House is transformed into the most beautiful ballroom of the country, where every little details takes guests back in time, to the cultural protocol, social etiquette and good manners of past centuries. After a short greeting program the ball is opened by more than a hundred debutante dancers, then guests are served a sumptuous dinner and can waltz their way into the wee hours of the morning.
Through the years the ball's organizers had the honour to welcome a bunch of distinquished visitors such as M. Barre former Prime Minister of France, Baron Guy de Rothschild the head of the Rotschild Dinasty, Gilberte Beaux leading personality of the French economic branch, Thierry de Montbrial representing the French cultural and political life, Jürgen Köppen Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Hungary, Brigitte Zypries Federal Minister of Justice and Otto Wiesheu Bavarian Minister of Economy, as well as Dr. Dieter Böhmdorfer former Austrian Minister of Economy. Also among the guest stars of the last ten years there were famous international names, worthy of the event's prestige: Montserrat Caballé, Ornella Muti, Catherine Deneuve, Katarina Witt, Gina Lollobrigida, Daryl Hannah, Richard Clayderman, Franco Nero and Lothar Matthäus.
This year the ball will take place on the 13th of February and its guest of honour will be the well-known Argetinian-born opera tenor José Cura. Beside his presence participants can enjoy special entertainment program sin several places within the Opera House: in the Zwack Café they will be able to taste delicious cocktails while listening to the Babos Band, in the Székely Bertalan Hall they can enjoy a nice champagne bar and soft piano music, on a terrace a cigar room will be available, while in another salon guest will be able to try different brands of beer.
On the following day the decorative arrangements will be kept intact and will host a festive charity gala for underprivileged and disabled children, presenting a beautiful show of entertaining performances.
Then there was a long pause and after an interval of 62 years the modern version of the ball was organized in February 1996 - soon it became the largest and most important social event for local celebrities. The annual tradition is kept alive at the end of each winter and it offers an excellent opportunity for the most famous representatives of the cultural, political, business and entertainment world to meet and capture the attention of the public.
On the last Saturday of every carnival season the stage and the auditorium of the State Opera House is transformed into the most beautiful ballroom of the country, where every little details takes guests back in time, to the cultural protocol, social etiquette and good manners of past centuries. After a short greeting program the ball is opened by more than a hundred debutante dancers, then guests are served a sumptuous dinner and can waltz their way into the wee hours of the morning.
Through the years the ball's organizers had the honour to welcome a bunch of distinquished visitors such as M. Barre former Prime Minister of France, Baron Guy de Rothschild the head of the Rotschild Dinasty, Gilberte Beaux leading personality of the French economic branch, Thierry de Montbrial representing the French cultural and political life, Jürgen Köppen Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Hungary, Brigitte Zypries Federal Minister of Justice and Otto Wiesheu Bavarian Minister of Economy, as well as Dr. Dieter Böhmdorfer former Austrian Minister of Economy. Also among the guest stars of the last ten years there were famous international names, worthy of the event's prestige: Montserrat Caballé, Ornella Muti, Catherine Deneuve, Katarina Witt, Gina Lollobrigida, Daryl Hannah, Richard Clayderman, Franco Nero and Lothar Matthäus.
This year the ball will take place on the 13th of February and its guest of honour will be the well-known Argetinian-born opera tenor José Cura. Beside his presence participants can enjoy special entertainment program sin several places within the Opera House: in the Zwack Café they will be able to taste delicious cocktails while listening to the Babos Band, in the Székely Bertalan Hall they can enjoy a nice champagne bar and soft piano music, on a terrace a cigar room will be available, while in another salon guest will be able to try different brands of beer.
On the following day the decorative arrangements will be kept intact and will host a festive charity gala for underprivileged and disabled children, presenting a beautiful show of entertaining performances.
Friday, January 1, 2010
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