The Israeli Cultural Spring will kick off on April 19 with a special "sculpture theatre" performance by Israeli artist Ofra Zimbalista. Zimbalista will present her "troupe" of sculptures - made with a special casting technique and based on real people - at an exhibition space called Art Mill in Szentendre, north of Budapest.
Other events will follow, including films, exhibitions and concerts, running until the end of June.
Israel's national Habima Theater will perform Swedish playwright Lars Noren's family tragedy Milhama (War) at the Katona József Theatre on April 23 and 24.
The Gizi Bajor Actors' Museum will pay tribute to the comedy writer Béla Szenes, who died young, at the height of his career, with an exhibition featuring his photographs and manuscripts. The exhibition will open on April 26.
Pianist Lívia Rév will perform in Budapest on April 28 and singer Bea Palya will share the stage with marimba player Asaf Roth on May 14. Venues for the concerts will be announced soon.
Gábor Hollerung, who won the Jerusalem Award last year, will conduct the Dohnányi Symphony Orchestra of Budafok in a performance of Israeli composer Gil Shohat's Jewish Festive Overture, Saint-Saëns' Piano concerto No. 2 in G minor, op. 22, Verdi's Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from the opera Nabucco and excerpts from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, sung by Mariann Falusi and Boldizsár László, at the Palace of Culture on May 8. The Dohnányi Symphony Orchestra will also play works by János Vajda, Tchaikovsky and Aharon Harlap at a concert at the Music Academy on May 20.
The Örökmozgó Cinema will open its 11th Israeli Film Festival on May 24. On the programme are four documentaries and four feature films, including Karov la bayit (Close to Home), which won an award at the Berlin Film Festival.
Flautist Benedek Csalog will play a concert with harpsichordist Shalev Ad-El at the Festetics Palace on June 18, and Ensemble Meitar will close the Jewish Cultural Spring with a performance on June 21.
Source: Roland Borsos
