After ten years, Müpa's organ is still full of surprises: this time it will be used to played transcriptions, and not just any transcriptions. Phenomenal organist Balázs Szabó's transcription of Bartók's diabolically difficult work, The Miraculous Mandarin suite is a sensation. The young player, historian and restorer of organs, who also has a one-person series performing all of Bach's organ works to his name, will be taking the stage with Zsigmond Szathmáry, a master 50 years his elder who is respected as a major figure in contemporary organ-playing. They have even jointly developed a transcription of Liszt's deservedly popular symphonic poem for the occasion.
"Nearly every organist of my age cherishes a defining memory: the marvellous film The First Concert,” says Szathmáry, who has lived in Germany since the 1970s, as he speaks about Liszt's work. "In it, we follow the discovery of the teen wunderkind Roberto Benzi through to the end. Through Bach's famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor, he develops a relationship with classical music, and at the end of the film conducts Liszt's Les Préludes. For me, Bach, the organ and Liszt are all the same unified whole.”
The composition Mors et vita, which receives its Hungarian début at the concert and takes inspiration from the age-old and still relevant human experience of the struggle between life and death, came into being for the 50th anniversary celebration of the inauguration of the organs in Freiburg Cathedral, and was commissioned by the city. The 66-year-old Zsigmond Szathmáry reveals of his own organ transcription of Kodály's orchestral piece that "These wonderful melodies flowing from the spirit of the people of Márosszék and into the heart of the entire nation can be superbly reproduced by the organ, with its vocal character as a 'wind instrument', and the faithful imitation of the traditional recorder used as a folk instrument. Müpa Budapest's organ is singular in every respect anyway: it is a perfect instrument both in terms of its modern technical features for playing it and for creating unusual colours in unusual styles.”

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Presented by: Müpa Budapest