Budapest Spring Festival 10

The Budapest Spring Festival, one of Europe’s most prestigious cultural celebrations will soon be upon us.  The festival, which runs this year from March 19 to April 5, features opera, jazz and classical concerts, ballet and theatrical performances, as well as a range of gallery and museum events.

One of four major seasonal festivals held in Budapest each year, and certainly the most celebrated; the Spring festival is a highlight on Budapest’s cultural calendar. Over the course of 18 days the streets of Budapest awake from a winter slumber, alive with over 200 performances.

Highlights from 2009 included performances from the Russian National Opera, a flamenco and gypsy fused performance by Maria Serrano and Kaman Balogh and jazz performances by Nigel Kennedy.  2010 will take it up a notch. The festival opens with a Beethoven Evening, where Beethoven’s Piano concerto No. 4 as well as the powerful and renowned Symphony No. 9 will be performed.  This is a rare opportunity to see the final pieces performed by Beethoven in Europe.  Directed by Iván Fischer and including an all-star international repertoire of performers, the Beethoven Evening opens the festival with a flourish.  Victor Hugo’s Ruy Blas, directed by András Léner, will also premier.  It is lauded by critics as being Hugo’s best play. Opera enthusiasts will find Strauss, Rossini, and Wagner on the bill throughout the festival.  Lovers of dance of all sorts won’t be disappointed either; both the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía and the Royal Danish Ballet are scheduled to perform.

The very cool 100 members Gypsy Orchestra will be celebrating its 25th anniversary, and Nigel Kennedy will return to perform his popular Bach/Ellington evening that has been praised by jazz and piano audiences alike.

The 29th National Dance House Gathering and Arts and Crafts Fair will surely be an inspired way to pass an afternoon and not to be missed are a slew of wildly creative performances by the likes of the Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma and the surreal and magical performances of Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Polla.  This is to say nothing of the range of exhibitions and screenings, which makes the festival popular among younger visitors.  The Kunsthalle will be open nonstop for 3 days with a tribute to Hungarian actor and director Péter Halász; a 24-hour documentary about the actor will be presented for the first time.

White Line Hotel’s Lánchíd 19 is in the middle of it all.  Located within walking distance of many of the venues, it’s the perfect place to have a dinner before an evening of opera, find respite after a long day of exploring the city, or blissfully watch the sun come up after an all-nighter at the Kunsthalle.

Gypsy Orchestra Photos Courtesy of the Budapest Spring Festival website and Arthur Dubuc.  All other images courtesy of Hotel Pro Forma and the Royal Danish Ballet.

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Categories: Budapest, Culture

Contributing writer: Alicia Reuter