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.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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.
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