The stars of this show are the instruments themselves. Listeners young and old are invited to learn about a variety of unusual instruments through authentic live music played by expert musicians. Once again, this season's Instru-Mentor programme introduces the instruments of Hungarian folklore. The body of the percussive cello (ütőgardon) is carved from a single piece of sycamore, poplar or willow. It is struck with a 40 cm hardwood stick of the thickness of a broomstick. The gardon has three... or sometimes four strings, of which three are thicker and the fourth (closest to the player's left hand) is thinner. The gardon player does not need to be an expert and the instrument is generally owned by a male – usually Roma – violinist, who teaches his wife or a close relative to play. He may even employ someone to accompany him to larger dance events. The percussive cello, as its English name suggests, does not have a bow. Instead, a stick is held in the right hand and used to strike the strings elevated to the same height on a flat bridge. Meanwhile, the thumb of the left hand plucks the fourth string, raising it and allowing it to resonate against the neck. Due to the plucking and beating action of the player, the instrument is sometimes referred to by the humorous name of csipisüti – a combination of csípi (“pinch”) and üti (“strike”). (Based on the writing of Bálint Sárosi.)
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
Safe ticket purchase
Dear Visitors, please note that only tickets purchased from the Müpa website and official ticket offices are guaranteed to be valid. To avoid possible inconvenience, we suggest buying tickets to our performances and concerts via the mupa.hu website, the Interticket national network (jegy.hu) or at our official ticket offices.