The Budapest

The Budapest strings make a delightfull sound and you can get a complete set of the Op.5, 7 and 9 concertos on the same box, for a very affordable price (in this offer you get only Op.5) The sound is not cristal clear but the playing is exciting. You can try either the Naxos series of these concertos, the Nikol Matt with the Sttutgart Chamber and even the Negri version on PHILIPS with a clear spaciouos sound although a bit old, but very good.

Esoteric Antenna is delighted to announce the release of a new 2 CD and DVD live album by Djabe & Steve Hackett; "Life is a Journey: The Budapest Live Tapes". This wonderful concert recording was mainly recorded in Budapest in October 2017, one of a series of live concerts that followed the release of the acclaimed collaboration between Djabe (one of Hungary's most acclaimed Jazz groups) and former Genesis guitarist and acclaimed solo artist Steve Hackett; "Life is a Journey: The Sardinia Tapes", an album which was the result of improvised sessions that took place in a church on the island of Sardinia.

So what if Liszt spent most of his life in France and Germany and never learned to speak Hungarian? The music of the Magyars' fiery favorite son played by a hot-blooded local boy is an irresistible combination. Even the delightful Dohnanyi filler (variations on ''Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'') doesn't really douse the flames. Put it in the CD player and let 'er rip! Just be sure to remove all flammable vestments first. (Entertainment Weekly)

Neither too nationalist nor too internationalist, this 1995 recording of Béla Bartók's two violin concertos featuring Thomas Zehetmair with Ivan Fischer leading the Budapest Festival Orchestra is just right. Austrian-born Zehetmair has a fabulous technique, a warm but focused tone, and lively sense of rhythm, all of which make him an ideal Bartók player. His interpretations are less about showing off then about digging in, and his performances are more about the music than they are about the musician. Hungarian conductor Fischer and his Hungarian orchestra are not only up for the music in a technical sense, they are also down with the music in an emotional sense, and their accompaniments ground Zehetmair's coolly flamboyant performances. Captured in white-hot sound that is almost too vivid for its own good, these performances deserve to stand among the finest ever recorded.

The Budapest strings make a delightfull sound and you can get a complete set of the Op.5, 7 and 9 concertos on the same box, for a very affordable price (in this offer you get only Op.5) The sound is not cristal clear but the playing is exciting. You can try either the Naxos series of these concertos, the Nikol Matt with the Sttutgart Chamber and even the Negri version on PHILIPS with a clear spaciouos sound although a bit old, but very good.

A superb 4 CD set of Sinfonie Concertanti and oboe concertos by J C Bach. Played by Lajos Lencies, Janos Balint, Bela Banfalvi with the Budapest Strings. This a wonderful collection of these suplime works, presented at a very special price.

A countryman of Bela Bartók and a sometime teacher to both György Ligeti and György Kurtág, Sándor Veress emigrated to Switzerland from what was then part of Hungary in 1949. Settling in Bern, he collected various prizes and teaching posts while working in relative obscurity on who knows how many pieces–most of which have been unavailable. This collection is made up of a pithy trio of compositions dated 1938 (Six Csárdás), 1951 (Hommage à Paul Klee), and 1952 (Concerto for Piano, Strings, and Percussion), and they show what a deftly melodic force Veress was. He's thrilled by blustery string wafts, especially in the concerto, where the percussion adds drama and immediacy. But he also favors sweetly chipper string formations, which surprise the ear during the homage to Klee, especially given the dissonances fostered early on by the twin pianos. The closing piano miniatures of Six Csárdás are counterpoint-rich gems, played with sharp precision by András Schiff.