Ambergris is a grease-like substance of the sperm whale's digestive tract that is used in the finest perfumes. Ambergris was chosen as this quartet's name as a metaphor of the product of the creative process of an artist, who draws from a stock of experiences and emotions, collected throughout life, and create beauty out of it. The compositions performed by the band are a result of that process, they are ambergris themselves, a chaotic mass of stories, digested and reshaped into music. The band members have forged their special artistic and human bond through their long-lasting experience together in several bands active in the Dutch music scene. Their music is a colourful set of original songs made of non-conventional forms, elaborate harmonies often coming from the classical music world, heart-breaking melodies that draw inspiration from Italian popular music – all performed by a revisited version of the most traditional type of ensemble in jazz, a saxophone quartet.  

The audience will enjoy an exciting encounter between classical music and gypsy music at the December episode of Egri & Pertis Piano Duo's "Crosstalk" concert series. What would Brahms' music sound like if the great master of German Romanticism had been a first violin? Musically, as a composer and performer, Brahms took the guise of gypsy band leaders multiple times. His vast collection of gypsy music and his incredible affinity led to the composition of extraordinary works, similarly as in the case of Liszt. The fascination with gypsy music was not uncommon among classical composers, shown by many further examples in music history and in this concert programme, including works by Schumann, Schubert, Bizet and the Danish composer Ludvig Schytte, and even the Hungarian fantasy of Count Imre Széchényi. This time, the duo will ask Puka Károly, a distinguished representative of Gypsy music about the secrets of the "alla zingarese" style of playing and the genre of the first violin. The trio also asks band leader Károly Puka about the secrets of this playing style, while Szilvia Becze will guide the audience through the colourful programme in Hungarian. The concert is supported by OTP Bank.

After four concerts in 2023, János Mátyás Stark, Gergely Devich, and Fülöp Ránki are announcing a new series at the BMC, now under the name of Trio Haris. Their second concert will be dedicated to Shostakovich and Takemitsu, also featuring a piece by Schubert. The two piano trios by Shostakovich range from unravelling to resignation. He wrote his Trio No 1 in C minor when he was sixteen and dedicated it to his girlfriend. Its single movement is bold and mature, although still closely linked to Romanticism. It is preceded by Toru Takemitsu's late trio Between Tides. The piece's contemplative, almost meditative character and subtle sonorities contrast sharply with the rest of the programme's rather narrative pieces. The second half opens with Schubert's Notturno, whose intimate tone is punctuated by solemn episodes. The Trio No 2 in E minor, completed in 1944, was dedicated by Shostakovich to the memory of his friend Ivan Shollertinsky, who died young. The scherzo, with its bursting energy, is surrounded by three sombre movements in a serious tone, creating an unforgettable atmosphere. The tragic return of the first movement's theme before the finale's end seems to be a reference to Tchaikovsky's Trio in A minor, also in memory of a lost friend. Further concerts in this series: 5 October 2024 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) I. | Haydn, Liszt, Schubert22 March 2025 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) III. | Haydn and Beethoven7 June 2025 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) IV. | Schumann and Brahms

The Modern Art Orchestra's À la MAO... series aims to present compositions and adaptations, sometimes originals, by members of the orchestra in a new context. In recordings and concerts, the orchestra has created a repertoire that is unparalleled in the history of Hungarian jazz. Some of these pieces have never been heard before by old or new followers, arranged in a new thematical, stylistic or other way. Additionally, some of them have never been released on disc or digitally. The mythical magic of the Far East and the Balkan or Asia Minor have often influenced pieces of recent Hungarian music history, they now provide the thematic link to the oriental music programme. An unmissable piece in such a programme is the orchestra leader Kornél Fekete-Kovács's suite Yamas and Nyamas, of which the movement Tapas is based on an Indian raga. Actually, Bartók also collected folk music in Asia Minor, and in recent years the MAO has systematically adapted Bartók's works, such as the 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, to its own sound. Some compositions by the in-house composers of the Modern Art Orchestra have also revealed Balkan, Indian and Arabic musical influences.

Európai kitekintésre készülünk az olasz zene világába Lorenzo Donati olasz vendégkarnagy irányításával. Terveink szerint bekukkanthatunk abba az olasz életérzésbe, amit a társaséneklés mind a mai napig jelent Itália földjén.

Founded in 2018, the Korossy Quartet aims to transmit the famous Hungarian string quartet tradition, and to present the broadest possible repertoire to Hungarian and foreign audiences. In 2021, the ensemble was awarded 5 different special prizes at the international Bartók World Competition, and a year later they were accepted into the class of Günter Pichler, first violinist of the legendary Alban Berg Quartet, at the Reina Sofia School of Music in Madrid. The Korossy Quartet's Bartók series, starting in autumn 2023, includes all of Bartók's string quartets in 6 concerts over 2 years, paired with a selection of works by the greatest composers of music history. The first three movements of Bartók's String Quartet No. 6 are preceded by the same slow introduction, while the fourth movement is the unfolding of this Mesto melody into a movement in its own right. Bartók's original plan was for a life-affirming finale, but the events of the composer's life intervened: the death of his mother and the outbreak of World War II caused the quartet to end with sounds of mourning and resignation. Through the character of the work as a whole, and through the key of D minor, we can also associate Mozart's String Quartet in D minor with themes of death and passing. The concert will begin with Webern's Five movements for string quartet, composed in 1909 and also inspired by the death of the composer's mother. Photo: Andrea Felvégi

After four concerts in 2023, János Mátyás Stark, Gergely Devich, and Fülöp Ránki are announcing a new series at the BMC, now under the name of Trio Haris. The series will conclude with works by two closely related geniuses of romantic chamber music. The professional and personal relationship between Schumann and Brahms has a wealth of musical and non-musical sources, and a vast literature. Both wrote three piano trios, the first of which will be performed in this concert. Schumann wrote his first trio in D minor (Op. 63) relatively late, and its troubled D minor, passing through the lively F major of the scherzo and the dark A minor of the slow movement, finally resolves into the luminous D major of the finale. Brahms's Trio in B flat major bears the opus number 8 – the composer wrote the first version in 1854, when he was twenty-one –, but this is misleading because it was thoroughly revised three and a half decades later. Dramaturgically, the work is essentially the reverse of Schumann's, and, uniquely among the top works of the trio repertoire, begins in a major key but ends in minor. Further concerts in this series: 5 October 2024 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) I. | Haydn, Liszt, Schubert4 January 2025 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) II. | Takemitsu, Schubert, Shostakovich22 March 2025 7 PM Trio Haris (Ránki – Stark – Devich) III. | Haydn and Beethoven