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.
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