The Musical Budapest program series, which is now being held for the eighth time, awaits those interested with 160 free concerts at fifteen outdoor venues between 1 July and 14 August, reports MTI.

"We have been organizing Musical Budapest since 2015. From the beginning, the goal is to invite people to the capital's most beautiful spots and architectural masterpieces. For this year's event, we have reimagined Béla Bartók's ballet The Prince Carved from Wood with the inclusion of puppetry and folk dance, and will present it at six locations," said Nándor Götz, artistic director of Zenélő Budapest, creator of the new arrangement and chamber music adaptation of the Bartók work, at the Wednesday press conference of the program series. .

There will also be music in the Várkert Bazaar (Photo: Both Balázs/pestbuda.hu)

The performers of Zenélő Budapest are selected from the musicians of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Opera House, Concerto Budapest and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. At each location, the program matches the character of the buildings; excerpts from Hungarian romantic operas will be performed, there will also be string quartets, saxophone and bell ensembles, and brass players in hussar costumes.

Szabolcs Kiss, head of department at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, emphasized: the message of Zenélő Budapest is that it is good to be in this city and to discover it, and in addition, the locations of the program offer many wonders. "The music will be played at venues such as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Hungarian National Museum, the Várkert Bazaar, the House of Hungarian Music or the Hegyvidéki Cultural Hall. There will be big and mini concerts, music will be played for adults, children and families. Zenélő Budapest's programs reinforce each other in space and time and present special cultural productions".

A saxophone quartet will play between the colonnades of the Museum of Fine Arts (Photo: Both Balázs/pestbuda.hu)

The violin-clarinet-piano version of A Wood Carved King with choreography by Zsolt Juhász (Danube Art Ensemble) and puppeteer András Lénárt will be performed three times in the Millenáris G building, in the Várkert Bazaar, in the Nádasdy Castle, and in the Lóvasút Event Center. In the courtyard of the Várkert Bazár Öntőház, on the morning of 3 July, an extended performance of the dance and puppet show can be seen, with folk singer Zsuzsanna Zsikó and folk musician Balázs Szokolay Dongó participating as guest artists.

The House of Hungarian Music will also join the event (Photo: Both Balázs/pestbuda.hu)

Nándor Götz said that in the Hungarian National Museum works of Hungarian romanticism from Erkel to Liszt are performed on Saturday mornings, at the Margitsziget Zenélő Kút on Saturday and Sunday afternoons a female choir performs classical works from Mozart to Rossini, in the Museum of Fine Arts on Sunday mornings a saxophone quartet plays from Mussorgsky's work Pictures of an Exhibition .

The works of Hungarian romanticism from Erkel to Liszt are presented in the Hungarian National Museum (Photo: Both Balázs/pestbuda.hu)

The interactive community instruments designed by Nándor Götz can be tried out on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in the Millenáris Széllkapu park, on the terrace of the Hegyvidéki Cultural Hall and in the Orczy Park with the participation of the musicians of Zenélő Budapest.

This year, the Castle Garden Bazaar will be joined by the renewed historical sites of the Buda Palace Quarter, such as Csikós-udvar. There will be big concerts in the courtyard of the Várkert Bazár Öntőház, and young light music talents will perform on the Szárazár stage. "We are happy that the spaces that Alajos Hauszmann, the turn-of-the-century architect of the palace, dreamed up, can now be filled with music and programs together," emphasized Krisztina Sikota, deputy general manager of Várkapitányság Nonprofit Zrt.

On 2 July, 9 and 21, The Prince Carved from Wood will be shown at Millenáris, in the renovated Inn building, and every Sunday in the Széllkapu park there will be an exhibition of community instruments and interactive outdoor music for children.

Source: MTI

Cover photo : A brass quintet in hussar clothes performs at the Gloriette of the Várkert Bazar (Photo: zenelobudapest.hu)