Born: 1959
Academic degree, university position: senior lecturer
Studies:
He pursued his violin studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, under the guidance of Ferenc Halász, and graduated in 1983. One year later he became a teacher of the Academy. He pursued his postgraduate studies with Ruggiero Ricci, Sándor Végh and Loránd Fenyves.
Teaching activities:
He has been a teacher at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music since 1984.
Master classes:
USA: Indianapolis/Bloomington University, Cleveland University
Singapore
Japan: Tokyo, Gifu
Korea: Daegu, Busan, Seoul
Greece: Athens
Finnland: Helsinki, Turku, Lohja, Suolahti, Vammala
Denmark: Copenhagen, Royal Academy
Major concerts:
On the request of Sir Georg Solti and the London Philharmonics, Szabadi played the 2nd Violin Concerto of Bartók at the 1988 Bartók Gala Concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London. This concert was recorded by the BBC and Decca, and was released by Philips. In 1990, Szabadi gave a concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, in 1992, with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and then, with the RTE Concert Orchestra (Ireland). On October 22, 1992, he played at the birthday concert of Sir Georg Solti, in Buckingham Palace, in the company of Rostropovich, Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, and Jeffrey Tate. In April, 1995, he performed in the Auditorio Nacional, the biggest concert hall of Madrid, together with Dmitri Bashkirov and Ivan Monighetti. On this occasion he played a Stradivarius, made in 1701 for the Spanish Royal Treasury.
During his performances ha has so far worked with the following conductors: Simonov, Ceccato, Nelson, Berglund, Kobayashi, Kamu, Haenchen, Tabachnik, Renzetti, Gardelli, Loughran, Vásáry, Saraste, Ádám Fisher and Iván Fisher – among others. As a guest soloist ha has performed in the Royal Festival Hall of London, the Barbican Center, the Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, the Liederhalle of Stuttgart, the Konzerthaus and the Musikverein of Vienna, the Museé D'Orsay, the Conservatoire, and the Chatalet of Paris, the Finlandia Hall of Helsinki, the National Concert Hall of Dublin, the RAI Auditorium of Turin, the Auditorio Nacional of Madrid, the Theater Saint Michelle of Brussels, and the concert halls of Northern Ireland and Wales. He has also given concerts in the USA, Canada, Israel, Turkey, South Korea and Taiwan.
As artistic director, he established in 1995 the Castle Chamber Music Festival concert series, organised in the summers.
In 1996, he was contracted as an exclusive artist for the Hungaroton Classics record label.
Frequently invited to international competition juries, as last time to Singapore International Violin Competition and Joseph Joachim Competition Hannover in 2015.
The violin he currently plays is a master instrument made in Cremona: a 1778 Laurentius Storioni, from the collection of the State of Hungary.
Recordings:
Recordings have been made with him by the BBC, the NDR (Radio Hamburg), the BRD (Radio Munich), the Radio Classique (France), the Finish, the Yugoslav, the Israeli and other broadcasting companies.
Twice (1999, 2002) he was awarded the Grand Prize of the MIDEM Festival of Cannes (France) for his CD recordings of the Dohnányi Violin Concertos and the sonatas of the young Bartók (both released by Hungaroton Records). In 1999 he was awarded the Hungaroton Prize too.
Hungaroton HCD 32241 - Pleyel: Violin Concerto
Hungaroton HCD 31931 - The Gems of Violin Music
Hungaroton HCD 32153 - Krimpholz: Sonatas
Hungaroton HCD 32119 - Spohr: Duets for Two Violins
Hungaroton HCD 31999 - Bartók: 44 Duets
Hungaroton HCD 31976 - Hubay: Violin Concertos
Hungaroton HCD 32385 - Haydn: Divertimentos
HCD 32361 - Haydn: Six Sonatas
Hungaroton HCD 32333 - Caprice Fantastique
Hungaroton HCD 32297 - Bartók: Other Side
Hungaroton HCD 32282 - Violin-Viola Duets
Hungaroton HCD 32268 – Works of Eybler and Pleyel
Hungaroton HCD 32185 - Weiner: Violin Concertos
Full list of the recordings is available from here!
Full list of the recordings is available from here!
Awards and decorations:
1982: Hungarian Radio Violin Competition – 1st Prize, Special Prize of the Jury
1983: Jenő Hubay Violin Competition – 1st Prize, Special Prize of the Jury
1985: Jean Sibelius International Violin Competition – 3rd Prize
1992: Liszt Prize
1999: Hungaroton Prize
Bartók-Pásztory Prize
1999, 2002: MIDEM prize, Cannes - with his Dohnányi violin concertos CD and with Bartók 'Unpublished' Sonata recording
2012: “PRIMA” prize, Hungary
2020: Excellent Artist
1999, 2002: MIDEM prize, Cannes - with his Dohnányi violin concertos CD and with Bartók 'Unpublished' Sonata recording
2012: “PRIMA” prize, Hungary
2020: Excellent Artist
Web page: m.vszabadi.com
Contact: vszabadi[at]gmail.com