Monthly Archives: January 2003

Katalin Károlyi was the weak link at the latest concert of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, which is primarily surprising because audiences generally react better to concert pieces featuring a human voice. The orchestra's concert otherwise comprised of rarities: Stravinsky, a barely known Bartók (Four Orchestral Pieces), Rachmaninov orchestrated by Respighi, all things to alarm audiences. […]

Hungarian National Philharmonic plays Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra with verve. Bartok composed his Concerto for Orchestra in 1943 as a dying man in the United States. It doesn't tell a story, but it's generally regarded as a longing look at his homeland, Hungary. It shifts from heaviness in the first movement to life assertion in […]

It may have been predictable for the Hungarian National Philharmonic, which visited the Irvine Barclay Theatre Friday night, to offer an all-Hungarian program. But it was also the right and compelling thing to do. As often happens when an orchestra takes its native repertoire on tour, the Hungarians brought a nice mixture of zealotry and […]

The Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, which performed Tuesday at downtown's Copley Symphony Hall, trumpets the trend of touring ensembles from Eastern Europe and Russia. With their cold-war communism long gone, the orchestras are free from Soviet domination. But with freedom comes a price. The groups must learn to survive in the post-glasnost era, where state […]

It may have been predictable for the Hungarian National Philharmonic, which visited the Irvine Barclay Theatre Friday night, to offer an all-Hungarian program. But it was also the right and compelling thing to do. As often happens when an orchestra takes its native repertoire on tour, the Hungarians brought a nice mixture of zealotry and […]

National tours need to start somewhere, and on Friday Las Vegas was the first stop on what is a long series of U.S. performances for the Hungarian National Philharmonic. Did it make a difference that musical director and conductor Zoltan Kocsis relaxed Thursday on a trip to the Grand Canyon? Were the musicians more enthusiastic […]

After several changes of repertoire since the initial announcement (at one point two different all-Hungarian programs were advertised), Sunday night's concert with conductor and pianist Zoltán Kocsis and the Hungarian National Philharmonic featured an enjoyable and half-Hungarian program of music by Bartók, Liszt, and Dvorák It also gave the Bay Area a rare chance to […]

DAVIS – One of the finest symphony halls in Northern California took wing this season outside Sacramento, serving the University of California, Davis region with distinction and incredible ticket sales. “I tried to got tickets for tonight’s concert four months ago, and it was next to impossible,” complained a patron at the Hungarian National Philharmonic […]

Today, the National Philharmonic Orchestra begins its American tour.  The coincidence is almost ghostly: the two leading Hungarian symphony orchestras are practically swapping places in America. The Festival Orchestra performed in the States in the first half of January, while today, the National Philharmonic Orchestra set off on its trip, where after eighteen years, the […]

On Wednesday the National Philharmonic Orchestra (NPO) begins a two month American tour: conducted by Zoltán Kocsis and Zsolt Hamar, they will give thirty nine concerts in the United States. The ensemble is also preparing for lengthy Far East and English concert tours, and by September, will have issued three recordings.   Géza Kovacs, the manager […]