November Master Classes at Liszt Academy

The November series of Liszt Academy masterclasses opens with one by the tuba artist of the Budapest Festival Orchestra, József Baszinka on November 10-11, 2014. It is open to any student at a secondary or university level musical institution but anyone can come along and watch. József Bazsinka was born in Budapest in 1962 and graduated from the Liszt Academy in 1985. He participated in masterclasses by Roger Bobo, Mel Culbertson and Sam Pilafian. He won numerous prizes at international tuba and chamber music competitions from 1976 to 1995 (Prague, Acona, Markneukirchen, Narbonne, Sydney). Since 1989 he has taught at leading Hungarian and international masterclasses and sat on competition juries. As a soloist, he has performed across Europe, Australia and the United States. Between 1988 and 1992, he was a teacher at the Béla Bartók Conservatoire, from 2000 to 2008, he taught at the Zugló St Stephen The King Secondary School and since 2009 has taught in the Arts Faculty of the University of Pécs. Since 1993, he has been a member of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. As a guest musician, he has worked with numerous leading European chamber and symphonic ensembles, played in the Anonymous Brass Quintet, and since 1997 has been a member of the Hungarian Wind Quintet. His regular chamber partner has been Irina Ivanickaya. In 1996 he was awarded the Liszt Prize. He is a member of the Hungarian Trombone and Tuba Society, as well as the International Tuba Society.  He has made solo records: Waves (1996) French Connection (2001), Viola da Tuba (2004) Piano Version (2010). For more details of his masterclass which will take place in Room 23 of the Liszt Academy's main building. Click on this link where you will also find details of how to apply.

From November 10-14, Yevgeny Nesterenko will be visiting the Liszt Academy. The world famous Russian bass graduated from the Leningrad Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire while at the same time obtaining a diploma as an architect. In 1965, he joined the Leningrad Marinsky Theatre and in 1970 won the International Tchaikovsky Singing Competition in Moscow. A year later he was one of the leading singers at the Bolshoi Theatre and regards June 22^nd 1972 as one of the happiest days of his life when he made his debut on the Bolshoi stage in Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmilla. Nesterenko has given more than 3500 concerts in his career, at his peak performing 250 times per year. He made 70 records, and sung the leading role in 80 operas, over twenty of which were in the original language. He has sung as a chamber musician and oratorio performer, and has a repertoire of over five hundred lieder, folk songs and romances. He has starred at the New York Metropolitan Opera, London's Covent Garden and at the Vienna State Opera House. Along with Jelena Obrazcova, he was one of the first two Russian singers at La Scala Milan. His first ever performance outside the Soviet Union was in Hungary in 1970 and he says that besides Italy, Hungary is the country where he has performed most. In 1981, he recorded Prince Bluebeard with János Ferencsik and in 1985 became the first non-Hungarian to sing the title role in Hungarian. His most famous roles are in Russian romantic operas but he has also given memorable performances as Sarastro and Faust. He has participated in world premieres of works by Shostakovich and numerous other living Russian composers, and several operas have been written expressly for his voice. Nesterenko's breathtaking elegance, precision, passion and exceptional musicality remain astounding to this day. Because of the tremendous interest created by this event which will be held in the chamber hall of the Old Academy of Music, those wishing to attend must apply by email to borzi.zoltan (at) zeneakademia.hu by November 3^rd. The course concludes with a public concert and those performances will be selected by Yevgeny Nestorenko himself from those attending his masterclass.

On November 21 and 22, pianist Luíz de Moura Castro will hold a masterclass in Room 10 of the Liszt Academy's main building. Born in Brazil, he has lived in the USA for many decades, is a professor at Hartford University and the Barcelona Music Academy, and a member of the American Liszt Society. Between 1965 and 67, he studied at the Liszt Academy under Mihály Bächer. Following his years in Hungary, he moved back to Brazil, from where he was invited by another legendary Hungarian, Lili Krausz, to join the teaching staff of the Texas Christian University in 1968. By a curious twist of fate, in 1988 de Moura Castro was appointed to lead the faculty of the Washington Catholic University, succeeding Mihály Bächer's own teacher, Béla Böszörményi-Nagy who had enjoyed a dazzling career in America. De Moura Castro led the faculty for fifteen years. Like his teacher, he was also a child prodigy and began giving concerts at the age of nine. During the course of a rich and successful career, he performed in all the world's leading concert halls, and worked with the most distinguished orchestras. He made 45 records, some of which won awards. He is particularly esteemed for his performance of Romantic era composers and his Chopin playing has been compared to that of Rubinstein. He is also a champion of Liszt's oeuvre and the organisor of numerous Liszt Festivals, as well as a member of the American Liszt Society. As one of the most acknowledged performing artists from South America, he has also done much to popularise the music of his continent. The masterclass is only open to students of the Liszt Academy but the general public is welcome to watch. For details on how to attend, please check out this link.

Photo: Marco Borgrreve

The masterclass to be given by Péter Eötvos on November 26-29 is primarily aimed at students from the conducting faculty of the Liszt Academy. It will take place at the Budapest Music Center. Eötvös is a composer, teacher and conductor and regarded as one of the supreme interpretors of 20^th century music. He conducts Europe's finest orchestras, among them the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as well as working regularly with  major radio orchestras. As a celebrated composer, he receives commissions from Europe's leading orchestras and opera houses. After premieres at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Madrid Opera and the Munich Opera, he is currently writing new operas for the opera houses of Frankfurt and Cologne.  His orchestral works and operas are performed across the globe (for example, the Hungarian premiere of his stage work Lady Sarashina took place at the Liszt Academy recently). His works have won numerous prizes. In 1991, he founded the International Eötvös Institute Foundation in Hungary and in 2004, the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation which offers support to young composers and conductors through scholarships and advanced courses. From 1992 to 1998, Péter Eötvös was a professor at the Karlruhe Music College, from 1998 to 2001 professor at the Cologne Music College and from 2002 to 2007, he returned to Karlsruhe. He holds masterclasses throughout the world and is a returning professor at the Szombathelyi Bartók Seminar. Liszt Academy will nominate the participants for his conducting masterclass at the end of November, but the course may be attended by the public. For details on how to attend, please click on this link.

Although it is not a masterclass in the strict sense of the word, we recommend the performance by the Bratislava based Lotz Trio whose concert on November 17^th includes a demonstration of the historic basset horn. The actual concert begins at 19.00 in the Chamber Hall of the Old Academy of Music.