Budapest is a city of values and emotions, where festivals are as much about traditions as fascinating new surprises. The events of the 34th Budapest Spring Festival, held between 21 March and 6 April, will introduce visitors to a colourful and varied cultural scene in one of Europe’s most exciting capitals.





As formerly, the
34th Budapest Spring Festival
will present
world-famous performers
. The
Vienna Philharmonic
will play under the baton of
Zubin Mehta
. At a concert where he conducts his own ensemble,
Philip Glass
explores the overlap of
film and opera
with
La Belle et la Bête
(Beauty and the Beast). Two of today’s
most sought-after baritones
, the
British Simon Keenlyside
and
Erwin Schrott
from Uruguay, will each give a solo recital.

World-famous
Moldavian violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja
will be among those who
pay tribute
to one of today’s busiest Hungarian composers,
Péter Eötvös
, who has turned 70. The
soloist of the BBC Philharmonic’s concert
is Austrian “percussion magician”
Martin Grubinger
.
Elena Bashkirova
and the
Jerusalem Festival Chamber Ensemble
bring the spirit of Vienna to Budapest with a programme that selects
masterpieces from different ages
, from
Haydn
through
Arnold Schoenberg
and
Beethoven to Alban Berg
.




Maxim Vengerov
and the
Polish Chamber Orchestra
will play
Mozart
and
Tchaikovsky
, while the
Capella Amsterdam
sing the works of a
Hungarian genius of contemporary music, György Ligeti
. In the Hungarian State Opera’s production of
Tosca
,
Cavaradossi
will be sung by
José Cura
. Two
Baroque rarities
also stand out in the operatic programme,
Handel’s Orlando
being one of them, performed now by J
ean-Christophe Spinosi
and the
Ensemble Matheus
. The other is a
modern world premiere
of
Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les fêtes de Polymnie
, realized in cooperation with the
Centre for Baroque Music
, Versailles. A
thrilling spy opera
is in the making about the life of the legendary Dutch dancer,
Mata Hari
, who was sentenced to death in 1917 by a French military court on charges of spying for Germany.