Kurtág and Péter Eötvös are Hungary's two star contemporary composers, and György Ligeti is sure to attract the attention of serious music lovers, said Orsós, who is in charge of organising the programme for the Cultural Season. Bartók's name is so big that it would be wrong not to use it, he added.
Orsós noted that one of the goals of the festival is to introduce artists who are not yet know in the United States. "Compared to America, Hungary cannot produce too many well known starts, but we do have fantastic artists," he said. Orsós said he felt it was his mission to put these names in the focus of attention, adding that "this is not an attempt without danger, because we are flying blind, but our experience shows that we're not going to run into any walls."
The Cultural Season was originally planned to take place only in New York, but now events will be scheduled in two cities. As Hungary's ambassador to the U.S. Ferenc Somogyi earlier said, Washington D.C., home to the country's political elite, cannot be left out.
Orsós said agreements on the venues and the timing for most of the events in New York have already been made. The most difficult question is whether these venues will be big enough. In the next phase, the marketing will start and the Cultural Season's profile will be shaped.
The Cultural Season will have two main parts, one from the beginning of January to the beginning of June and the other from the middle of September till the end of November. During the summer between the two phases, there will also be a couple of big events in both New York and Washington.
Orsós warned that the success of the programme would not only depend on how it is received by the public, but on the way it is marketed. "A quality programme is in itself no guarantee of success," he said. He added that the marketing budget is limited, but "the person who has a limited amount of money at his disposal can be very innovative." There will not be enough money to advertise in The New York Times, but there are many other, alternative ideas for advertising the Cultural Year. Appearing in the newspapers is important, but not through direct advertisements, rather by indirect means, such as through the advertisements of venues hosting the events, Orsós said. He added that it would be a mistake to forget about the internet in a country where 95pc of the population has web access.
Orsós said the Cultural Year's organisers had to be "like a good psychologist" when organising events for New York or for Washington. Washington is more serious and elegant than New York, where audiences are used to more experimental productions. There are certain things that would not go over well in Washington, though the same could be said for New York, he added.
Asked whether the Cultural Season would have more classical or contemporary productions, Orsós said "the season will have a classical base, but point in the direction of the contemporary." The question of "traditional or alternative" loses its value with American audiences as everything is new in the U.S., he said. Orsós added that two of Hungary's best theatre companies, the Krétakör Company and the Béla Pintér Company (that many Americans would consider alternative), will appear at the Lincoln Center's summer festival in 2008.
The Cultural Season has a budget of HUF 700m, which, considering the cost of an overseas flight or the room rates at a New York hotel, "is not of the largest scale, but will hopefully be enough to organise a festival which leaves a lasting impression," Orsós said.
The patrons of the Hungarian Cultural Season will be the investor George Soros and the writer Kati Marton, who is the wife of former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
