Budapest Operetta Theatre
VI., Nagymező utca 17. (+36-1 472-2030, www.operettszinhaz.hu)
The building that currently accommodates the Operetta Theatre was built in 1894 on the plans of renowned Vienna-based architects Fellner and Helmer. With up to 500 shows and 500,000 visitors a year, the Operetta Theatre is one of the most popular locations of cultural and society life in Budapest. Over the last few years, it has been transformed into a music theatre of European dimensions, where traditional values are represented by the operetta, while musicals ensure a modern touch.
MARGARET ISLAND AND VÁROSMAJOR OPEN-AIR STAGES
XII., Városmajor (+36-1 375-5922, www.szabadter.hu)
XIII., Margitsziget (+36-1 340-4196, www.szabadter.hu)
These well-established open-air stages, both located in popular parks on Margaret Island and in the Városmajor, respectively, are among the most sought-after concert venues on a summer night. The programme of Budapest Summer Festival organised on these stages, includes dance shows, musicals and other music performances.
Budai Vigadó—The House of Traditions
I., Corvin tér 8. (+36-1 201-3766, www.hagyomanyokhaza.hu)
The House of Traditions is a national institution established to preserve and to protect the folklore tradition of the Carpathian Basin. The shows of its ensemble, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble give the audience the opportunity to get acquainted with all music genres related to tradition, ranging from historical music and authentic folk music and folk dance to world music based on traditional elements and spectacle theatre.
Danube Palace
V., Zrínyi u. 5. (+36-1 235-5500, www.dunapalota.hu)
The neo-Baroque palace located in downtown Budapest serves as a venue for high-quality performances of classical music and dance theatre shows as well as a home for the Danube Folk Ensemble, which is made up of a troupe of 24 dancers and a folk band with 5 members, and for the Danube Symphony Orchestra.
Fonó Music House of Buda
XI., Sztregova u. 3. (+36-1 206-5300, www.fono.hu)
The catchphrases of Fonó have since 1995 been maintaining traditions as well as creating values. It serves as a permanent venue for the crème de la crème of Hungarian folk music and folk dance, jazz artists and representatives of experimental genres.
Millenáris
II., Lövőház u. 39. (+36-1 438-5312, www.millenaris.hu)
This internationally well-known major factory unit of Hungarian industrial history now turned into one of the most popular cultural centres was first developed on the basis of the ironworks
founded by Ábrahám Ganz on the territory of the Pest Rolling Mill. The Theatrum and the Reception Building (two locations situated within the complex) often serve as venues for music
and dance shows covering a great variety of genres.
PALACE OF ARTS NATIONAL CONCERT HALL
IX., Komor Marcell u. 1. (+36-1 555-3005, www.mupa.hu)
The Palace of Arts has everything needed to make a building a stronghold of culture. Imposing rooms, state-of-the-art technology and, first and foremost, the unique complexity that includes a wide range of genres performed at the same venue. Traditional, experimental and classical music, opera, dance, jazz, world music and fine arts can here be present together, in a productive interaction. The house is open both to international stars and up-and-coming talents.
National Dance Theatre
I., Színház u 1-3. (+36 1-457-0848, +36-1 201-4407, +36-1 375-864, www.dancetheatre.hu)
National Dance Theatre, located in the impressive Castle District in Buda, awaits dance lovers with a historical atmosphere, an ambience radiating intimacy as well as a diversified programme. It offers the whole range of performances by Hungarian dance artists from folklore to classical ballet, from contemporary dance theatre to break dancing and from large ensembles to groups with a handful of artists.
Óbuda Society
III., Kiskorona utca 7. (+36-1 250-0288, +36-20 484-2544, +36-20 468-6935 www.obudaitarsaskor.hu)
The seat of the Óbuda Society is a Classicist-style listed building, of which the history back to Roman times. It is now known as an established venue of the cultural and community life of not only the quarter in the narrower sense, but also of Budapest and Hungary. The Society serves as a home for the Budapest String Ensemble, the Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, the Auer String Quartet as well as Budapest Ragtime Band. In summer time, the courtyard of the building is turned into a concert venue, where theatre shows, chanson evenings, classical and salon music, ragtime and big band concerts take place in the chestnut garden.
Italian Cultural Institute
VIII., Bródy S. u. 8. (+36-1 483-2040, www.iicbudapest.esteri.it)
The building of the Italian Cultural Institute, designed by Miklós Ybl and formally the seat of the House of Representatives of the Hungarian National Assembly between 1865 and 1902, is one of the major architectural monuments from the 19th century in Budapest. The great hall of the Institute has a capacity of 500 and serves as a permanent venue for concerts held as part of the Budapest Spring Festival as well as for the New Year Concert taking place on the first day of each year.
Trafó House of Contemporary Arts
IX, Liliom u. 41. (+36-1 215-1600, www.trafo.hu)
The arts centres and cultural institutions moving into abandoned industrial facilities boast a tradition of a few decades in Western Europe. In Hungary Trafó was the first such place where life was about dance, theatre, art, literature and music.
Liszt Academy
VI., Liszt Ferenc tér 8. (336-1 342-0179, www.lfze.hu)
The Liszt Ferenc College of Music is not only a tertiary institute for the education of musicians and artists, but is also the centre of the capital’s concert life. Its Art Nouveau building, which can be seen today, was finished in 1907, and its interior is the most richly decorated example of this style in Budapest. (The building is under reconstruction; the work is planned to be finished by 31 October 2011.)
MUSIC CALENDAR
WAGNER DAYS IN BUDAPEST – JUNE
Ádám Fischer, who has already been a conductor in Bayreuth, the home of Wagner operas, manages to attract excellent singers to his prestigious programme every year, so the production at the Palace of Arts will be a celebration for Wagner fans, who will arrive in Budapest from all over the world.
BUDAPEST MAHLER FESTIVAL – SEPTEMBER
The Budapest Mahler Festival, the artistic leader of which will be Iván Fischer, has been a largescale event every September since 2005, at the beginning of the classical music concert season. The Palace of Arts will organise the festival in cooperation with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. Mahler arrived in Budapest in 1888, and he became the chorus master and director of the Opera House. Although he only spent three very stormy years here, he established the first “golden age” of the Opera. He was the first to stage the first two pieces of the Wagner Ring cycle in Budapest, and Mascagni’s opera, Cavalleria Rusticana, which began to conquer the world after its success in Budapest. Mahler also wrote and presented his first symphony here in 1889.
BUDAPEST AUTUMN FESTIVAL - OCTOBER
The city will greet autumn with the counterpart event of the Spring Festival, the festival for
every type of art, in the course of which mainly contemporary and modern dance performances will be in focus, in addition to concerts, plays and exhibitions.
