Budapest has a grand history in music, ranging from virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt (whose playing frequently induced the ladies to swoon but who was not, in fact, Hungarian) to the operas of Ferenc Erkel. In the early 20th century, Béla Bartók (1881-1945) and Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) scoured the country to capture its vanishing folk songs. Their work has enriched today’s vibrant Hungarian music scene.
Tickets for the majority of concerts are available at the
Nemzeti Filharmónia ticket office, V Vörösmarty tér 1 (tel: (01) 118
0281). Otherwise, these are available for purchase at the venue, an hour before the show. Tickets for the
Hungarian State Opera (website:
www.opera.hu) are available for purchase at the State Opera Ticket Office, VI Andrássy útca 20 (tel: (01) 353 0170) and on-line. The
Petofi Csarnok, in Városliget (tel: (01) 363 3730; website:
www.petoficsarnok.hu), and the
Almássy téri Szabadido Központ (Almássy Square Leisure Center), VII Almássy tér 6, are the two favorite venues for folk music.
Listings in English are provided in
Budapest Week (website:
www.budapestweek.com) and
The Budapest Sun (website:
www.budapestsun.com). Tickets for most cultural and sports events can be purchased from
TEX Ticket Express, I Déli pályaudvar, VI Andrassy útca 18, and other locations, or ordered online at
www.tex.hu.
Music: The relatively well funded
Budapest Festival Orchestra (tel: (01) 355 4015; website:
www.bfz.hu) is among the few to reach international standards and regularly features international soloists and conductors.
Zeneakadémia, VI Liszt Ferenc tér (tel: (01) 462 4600; website:
www.zeneakademia.hu), is Hungary’s principal music venue and also houses the Ferenc (Franz) Liszt Music Academy - tickets are difficult to get, with most events being sold out many days in advance. Friday evening chamber concerts, given by Hungary’s best musicians, are performed in
Bartók Memorial House, II Csalán útca 29 (tel: (01) 394 2100; website:
www.bartokmuseum.hu), the former residence of the great composer and now a museum in his honor. The
Hungarian State Opera splits its repertoire between the prestigious Opera House,
Magyar Állami Operaház, VI Andrássy útca 22, and the enormous
Social Realist Erkel Színház, VIII Köztársaság tér 30.
Theater: The
Nemzeti Szinhaz (National Theater), XI Bajor Gizi Park 1 (tel: (01) 476 6800; website:
www.nemzetiszinhaz.hu) opened in 2002 in the new cultural center of Budapest. The Nemzeti stages mainly domestic and international musicals/dramas.
Katona József Szinház, V Petofi Sandor útca 5 (tel: (01) 318 6599), is reputed to show the best Hungarian theater.
Dance: The
Hungarian State Folk Ensemble (Magyar Állami Népi Együttes), I Corvin tér 8 (tel: (01) 317 2754; website:
www.hungariakoncert.hu), puts on professional performances of traditional dancing and music.
Film: While Budapest has over 30 cinemas, only approximately 5% of films shown are Hungarian - a clear advantage for the traveller, especially as foreign films are often subtitled (rather than dubbed). There are many large mainstream cinemas and a wide range of arthouse cinemas.
The major annual multicultural, multilingual event is the
Film Festival (Magyar Filmszemle) in February. Because of shortages of financing, joint productions are flourishing, such as the Hungarian-French
Simon Magus (1999), which caused a sensation at the 1999 Hungarian Film Festival. Films shot in Budapest include a short sequence in
The Music Box (1989), for which Jessica Lange won the Oscar for best actress; the funeral scene in Evita (1996); and more recently,
Underworld (2003), a vampire-meets-werewolf movie starring Kate Beckinsale.
Literary Notes: Shakespeare used the word ’hungarian’ in
The Merry Wives of Windsor (circa 1600), as an adjective connoting beggarliness and thievishness. Perceptions of Hungary and Budapest have changed over the centuries but fascination has been an enduring factor. As early as 1840, English visitor Julia Pardoe wrote: ’There is such a constant variety and movement in (Pest’s) streets, such a blending of the Oriental with the European and such a holiday look about the whole population that it is impossible to feel ennui in the chief city of the Magyars.’ Dictator Admiral Miklós Horthy described 1920s Budapest simply but unforgettably as a ’sinful city’. British perceptions of modern Budapest are well described in Marion Merrick’s
Now You See It, Now You Don’t (1998), while Michael Jacob’s
Budapest: A Cultural Guide (1998) offers a well-researched analysis of the city’s cultural history.
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