Central government funding for the festival is expected to be halved and a big sponsor, OTP Bank, has withdrawn its support, the organisers said. Although the festival has been shortened to just ten days, between March 16 and 26, the programme is still rich, they added.
Among the performers who have been booked are the virtuoso violinist Maxim Vengerov, the Russian National Orchestra under the baton of Mikhail Pletnev and I Musici di Roma.
Next year?s festival will open with a performance of Hortobágy, a soundtrack composed by the rarely heard composer László Lajtha on the 120th anniversary of his birth.
The Szeged Contemporary Ballet will bring a tribute to Bartók to the stage together with the National Philharmonic Orchestra next year. Festival-goers will get to see the flamenco master dancer and choreographer Israel Galván for the first time in Hungary, and jazz fans will be pleased to see Gary Burton and Chick Corea in the lineup.
The festival will close with a performance by the violinist Kirstóf Baráti with the UK?s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Charles Dutoit on March 26.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
