kamara.hu/1 Presented by Liszt Academy

One of the chief ‘rules’ of kamara.hu is that its programmes must have works that capture the imagination of performers and audiences, and that – thanks to the excellent artists involved – offer both enjoyment and food for thought for beginners and experts alike. This year, the four-day festival revolves around Hermann Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game, thus the opening concert has multiple associations with the novel. Just as in The Glass Bead Game, so too in the concert programme there is a particular focus on the master-student relationship: the first concert features works by Beethoven and his teacher, Haydn, as well as Béla Bartók and Ligeti and Holliger, students of Bartók disciple Sándor Veress. Holliger – as conductor and chamber musician – is a frequent partner of the festival’s artistic directors, pianists Izabella Simon and Dénes Várjon. And similarly to Hesse, so the opening concert has numerous links to Switzerland: several Swiss artists take to the stage of the Solti Chamber Hall (including Heinz Holliger not only in his role as composer but also as oboist), while Bartók’s Divertimento, commissioned by Paul Sacher, debuted in the Alpine state.