[NEWS] From Budapest to Pécs. A look back at the successful tour of Hungary by the OPRL and Gergely Madaras
This tour of Hungary at the invitation of Filharmónia Magyarország (the Hungarian Philharmonic), supported by Wallonie-Bruxelles International, was of particular interest to Gergely Madaras. As well as being a native of Budapest and an ardent defender of Hungarian culture, Maradas is also a commited ambassador of Franco-Belgian music. It was an occasion for some special moments with Les Amis de l'Orchestre, and the Club OPRL Liège 1 (the young fans' club of the Orchestra) as well as some very positive Hungarian and Belgian media coverage.
From 22 to 24 November, Hungary was the destination for Liège Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with concerts in three of the country's most important venues: the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, the Hangvilla Hall in Veszprém and the new Kodály Centre in Pécs.
The programme for these three concerts included the OPRL's unmissable Liège calling card, César Franck's Symphony, as well as a Hungarian work, Liszt's The Black Gondola in a rarely performed orchestration by John Adams, and Elgar's Cello Concerto with Pécs-born István Várdai.
The Budapest concert at the Franz Liszt Academy, a legendary venue where the Orchestra's Music Director received his musical training was a moving experience for everyone ! The audience was extremely enthusiastic, and Gergely Madaras' friends and family turned out in force to support him as he held his Belgian ensemble. The icing on the cake was that the concert was recorded for Hungarian radio and television. The OPRL felt quite at home in this sumptuous hall, thanks to the warm presence of Les Amis de l'OPRL and 18 young people from the Club OPRL Liège 1 (Athénée Charles Rogier) who had begun the day with a very pleasant meeting with the Belgian Ambassador to Hungary, Mr Jeroen Vergeylen.
The following day, the OPRL visited the Hangvilla in Veszprém, 120 km south-west of Budapest. It was a magnificent evening, completely sold-out and with a particularly warm welcome from the Hungarian public that will be long-remembered. The tour ended at the Kodály Center, inaugurated in 2010, the year in which the city of Pécs was European Cultural Capital. As well as an ambitious design, the venue has enviable acoustics, highly detailed and close to perfection, according to our musicians. István Várdai, the prestigious Hungarian cello soloist for the tour who hails from Pécs, was playing ‘at home’ on this occasion! A packed house and thunderous applause from the audience brought this Hungarian tour to a magnificent close, a true audience and critical success.
Covered by the Belgian press in Budapest (Le Soir, RTBF and Qu4tre), but also by the most important Hungarian music media (Papageno, Gramofon, Fidelio), the tour received enthusiastic feedback and touching reports on the importance of this tour for Gergely Madaras and the OPRL.
Press review
The press trip organised by the OPRL in conjunction with three Belgian media outlets produced a rich and enthusiastic response. The Hungarian music press was also present.
1. Belgian print media
Le Soir devoted a double-page spread to the OPRL tour, as well as an interview with Gergely Madaras:
This enthusiasm is reflected in the flamboyance of his conducting, which first unfolds the atmospheres of Liszt's The Black Gongola, before plunging, with the help of István Várdai, into Elgar's Cello Concerto. They concluded with one of the OPRL's calling cards: Franck's Symphony. A work that the conductor introduced passionately and at length in Hungarian, with a view to making the work widely known. His enthousiasm for the work was reflected in the performance.
(Gaëlle MOURY, Le Soir, 7 Decembre 2024)
Read the article online READ Gergely Madaras'S INTERVIEW
2. Belgian radio
RTBF devoted a long radio format (3'33‘’) produced by Bénédicte Alié:
3. Regional television
Françoise Bonivert and Myrtille Wéry produced three reports for Qu4tre - Liège Média devoted respectively to the OPRL concert in Budapest, support for Club OPRL Liège 1 and a portrait of Gergely Madaras:
THE OPRL concert IN Budapest
club OPRL Liège 1
Portrait of Gergely Madaras
4. Hungarian specialist press
Specialist magazines (with online versions) also reported on two of the three OPRL concerts.
[…] Once again, I can't say enough good things about the orchestra: I could highlight the magnificent solos of the winds, but I've also never heard the other winds accompany and make chamber music with them in such a beautiful way. The bass clarinet under the horn, the bassoon next to the English horn, and all the others. If I had to use a football analogy, I'd say that a good player doesn't just play well when he has the ball. And then there are the strings, who, by the end of the concert, almost seemed like my friends, not to mention the formidable brass, harp and timpani. They are all soloists and chamber musicians, individuals and team players. The audience felt it too, not wanting to let them go, even after the Fauré encore. I don't know how this Belgian orchestra should be ‘officially’ classified. In Veszprém, it was certainly one of the best and friendliest ensembles in the world.
(Mesterházi Gábor, Papageno, 26 November 2024)
[…] And the marvel of the whole evening: the extraordinary breadth of the dynamic palette. We listened with bated breath to the whispering pianissimos, followed by the bigger moments in the orchestration - and revelled in the climaxes, the joyous, triumphant peaks. A similar range of emotions was felt by the performers, who achieved these heights by their disciplined playing - and it was good to see their attention, never tense (there was hardly any tension) , relax at the end of each movement, and to acknowledge their collective performance with a relieved smile.
(Katalin Fittler, Gramofon, 27 November 2024)
5. Hungarian public service broadcasters
Finally, the Budapest concert was recorded for radio and television, for delayed broadcasts on Radio Bartók and MTVA, the Hungarian public service radio and television channels.