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BUDAPEST SPRING FESTIVAL COMING TO A CLOSE
 In recent
years the Budapest Spring Festival has not only become one
of the most important cultural festivals in Hungary but it has
also gained quite a repuration throughout
Europe.
 It was even honored with the prominent 'Kulturpreis
Europa' award in 2005 (which is given
out each year to those personalities, organizations
or festivals that have made an outstanding achievement in
the given year for the better familiarization of the culture
of their county across Europe), thus no wonder
that many people believe it is this festival
that really brings spring to Europe. In fact this is
going to be the motto of the festival: "Spring begins
in Budapest". Year by year the organizers
await visitors with concerts of light and classical
music, theatrical performances, films, exhibitions and different
kinds of outdoor programs, and seemingly 2008 will not be exception
in this tradition. This year it is already the 28th occasion
when artists from different European countries gather to perform
and exhibit their talent and also to celebrate the arts of Europe.
 The
festival opened on March 14 with a concert of the German
orchestra, the Bayerisches Staatsorchester conducted by Kent
Nagano
at Budapest's latest grandiose concert
hall, the Bartok Bela National Concert
Hall. Even this first concert proves the Budapest Spring
Festival has long ago exceeded the national borders. Festival
organizer
Andrea Koch told Diplomacy & Trade they try to
win as many well-known foreign guest performers
as possible over to the festival however it
is often a question of scheduling. Nevertheless other
factors might intervene, like this year when special guest
star Maxim Vengerov,
world-famous violinist was compelled to cancel his concert
due to illness. He is finally replaced by Nigel Kennedy
who has already proven his virtuosity as a violinist since he also
performed at last year's festival.
 Last year
the festival centered on Hungarian arts and Hungarian artists
which met great success; this year the organizers adopted
four major themes which are going to be
rich in novelties. As 2008 is the year of
the Renaissance era in Hungary (as we celebrate the 550th anniversary
of the crowning of Matyas Hunyadi, who brought Renaissance to
Hungary), prominent Renaissance works, artists, personalities
and even locations and events are treated
in a distinguished way throughout the two
week long program series. In the course of the Equal
Opportunities program such performers will appear as the four time
Grammy winner Blind Boys of Alabama gospel choir. This program tries
to draw the attention on the talent of handicapped artists. Since
the town of Kolozsvar is going to be the guest town throughout the
festival, visitors can see performances from the Transylvania Baroque
Company, Arcadia Quartet and from the National Hungarian Theatre
of Kolozsvar. Finally the fourth theme of the festival is going
to be centered on the works of Puccini to honor the 150th anniversary
of his birth.
 More
than a hundred programs at nearly 50 different locations await
for the visitors, including
a new Hungarian musical 'Abigel' at Thalia
Theatre which is expected to be a huge success, since the novel
it
is based on written by Magda Szabo (who
passed away recently) has already earned a cult status not only in Hungary but abroad as well.
Further promising theatrical and opera performances
involve Bernstein's 'West Side Story' at Bartok
Bela National Concert Hall, 'Carmen' and 'Bohemian
Life' at Hungarian National Opera House. Operetta fans might
be delighted to see 'The Merry Widow' a classic comic operetta
staged at Budapest Operetta Theatre. At MTA
Ceremonial Hall Berlin Symphony Orchestra
and the 40 years old Bartok String Quartet is going to
entertain
the classic music enthusiastic.
 Featured
performers also include the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the
Bamberg
Symphonic Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic Violinists,
the National Roma Orchestra, and Amadinda
Stick Band. Quite a colorful palette, isn't
it? Besides this, the variety of exhibitions is just
as vivid as that of music. At the Museum of Applied Arts the
'Heritage of Beatrix' show is on display.
Beatrix was the wife of Hungarian Renaissance
king, Mathias. Other Renaissance exhibition can also be
visited at Kultea (Renaissance Food show), at the National
Gallery and Budapest Museum of History (both
shows deal with the life and heritage of King Mathias). Elemer
Kolcsey's
Caricature Exhibition at Milleniar Theatre,
'The Evolution of Painting' at Platan Gallery, the 26th Press
Photo Exhibition at National Hungarian Museum or the outdoor exhibition of Transylvania at Szabadsag Square might be all
attractive to inquirers.
 To offer rich programs
is always a challenge for the festival organizers.
The organization of the festival requires more than just weeks
or a couple of months. As festival organizer Andrea Koch
told Diplomacy & Trade the organization
of the 2009 and even the 2010 Budapest Spring
Festival has already started. Since the interest is increasing
year by year they always have to come up with novelties, they
always try to outshine the programs of the previous year,
which is in fact not an easy job considering
the all-time high standard. That is why they
try to add as many premiers to the menu as possible. In
the past ten years the Budapest Spring Festival has presented
83 world premiers and 77 Hungarian premiers.
Foreigners are also getting more and more
interested in the festival. As Andrea Koch told last year
27 % of the visitors came from abroad, and this year this percentage
are expected to be even higher. The Budapest Spring Festival
closed on March 30.
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