After several years of restoration, the vintage Voit organ at Budapest’s Liszt Music Academy has just been put to good use with a special concert in the Great Hall. Broadcast live on Hungarian radio and TV, four organists played pieces by Kodály, Erkel and, of course, Franz Liszt himself, as well as modern-day composer Zsigmond Szathmáry. The intricate renovation of this revered instrument now allows the academy to host orchestral, choir and chamber concerts, as well as offer the highest level of tuition to organ students.

Thanks to state aid of some 800 million forints, the Voit organ at the Music Academy is now back in full-time operation. Its parts created in the workshop of Voit & Söhne company in Karlsruhe, the organ was built shortly after Music Academy moved into its current building, in 1907.

While its 4,500 pipes sing as new, a computer system now facilitates the tone combinations. According to academy rector, Andrea Vigh: “The new organ sums up the past, but points the way forward. It brings together the roots of serious European tradition, the open spirit of Liszt, and our capability to develop, which we might seek at any given time”.

It was back in 2010, during the major renovation of the academy itself, that the decision was taken to renew the great organ, which had been replaced by another instrument in the late 1960s. Now putting the Liszt Music Academy ahead of its counterparts in Prague and Heidelberg, the restored Voit organ may be compared to only two of its kind in the world: at Yale and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

Shortly after the concert, news was announced of the upcoming schedule at the Music Academy for 2019. Highlights include performances by violin virtuosos Barnabás Kelemen and Kristóf Baráti, and pianist/violinist duo Sam Haywood and Joshua Bell. Prices for season tickets are kept at a special rate until 2 January 2019 – see for details.