The Hungarian Culture Centre (HCC) is organising the events in cooperation with the Barbican Centre, the London Jewish Cultural Centre, Wigmore Hall and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London.
The first event of the series, to be held in Leighton House, will also mark the close of the ?Inspired by Bartók? series, which celebrated the 125th anniversary of the composer?s birth. The evening will feature the reading a new translation of Hungarian writer István Örkény?s short story ?Prayer? by Myrtill Nádasi. Readers will be John Castle and John Hudson. The second half of the programme will include a concert by opera singer Andrea Meláth and pianist Katalin Alter.
The next event of ?The Voice of Freedom? series will be a historians? conference, on September 20?21. The conference will be chaired by professors László Péter and Martyn Randy of University College London, and participants will include Rainer and Attila Pók from Hungary, Robin Aizlewood from London, Natalia Nowakowska from Oxford, Robert Hermann from Vienna, and Paul Hollander and Mark Cornwall from the USA.
On September 24, the UK premiere of ?Bloodletting?, Hungarian writer Tamás Kabdebó?s play about the 1956 Revolution, will take place as a rehearsed reading at the HCC in the heart of Covent Garden. Kabdebó was born in Budapest in 1934 and left Hungary in 1956. The award-winning author has published 12 novels and six collections of short stories.
?The Voice of Freedom? will continue on October 4 with the launch of ?Elegy 1956?, a new recording by pianist György Szabados and the New Dimension Workshop. Szabados?s ensemble, formed in 2003, has performed at numerous festivals in Hungary and abroad. They debuted in London at the highly successful Magyar Magic festival in 2004.
On October 5?10 the Barbican Centre will host a series of films, discussions and readings on the 1956 Revolution as part of ?The Voice of Freedom?. The series of films, selected by the US film critic Catherine Portuges, will start with ?Unburied Dead?, followed by a talk with the film?s director, Márta Mészáros, and the actor Jan Nowicki, who plays the lead in the film. Also on the programme are Zoltán Fábry's ?Twenty Hours?, an important film of the '60s, Miklós Jancsó?s masterpiece ?The Round-up?, István Szabó's ?Father?, which won the Director?s Prize at Cannes and the Grand Prix in Moscow, and Károly Makk's ?Love?, winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes. On October 9, the UK premiere of a documentary by Canadian directors Colin Keith Gray and Megan Raney Aarons entitled ?Freedom's Fury? will tell the story of the Hungarian water polo team?s famous defeat of the Soviet team at the 1956 Olympic Games. The last screening will be Géza Bereményi's ?The Midas Touch?, which will be followed by a talk with the director.
On October 6, the Barbican will also host a round-table discussion of the 1956 Revolution in conjunction with the launch of the book ?Twelve Days: Revolution 1956 or How the Hungarians tried to Topple their Soviet Masters? by Viktor Sebestyén. Sebestyén was born in Budapest in 1955 but left the country a year later for the UK as his parents fled the Soviet tanks. Renowned British actress Susannah York will read excerpts from the book and the round-table discussion will be attended by former British ambassador to Hungary Sir Bryan Cartledge and the writer Duncan Shiels. Another literary event at the Barbican, slated for October 8, will involve Hungarian-born writers living in the UK, including George Szirtes, Tibor Fisher, George Gömöry and Stephen Vizinczey.
On display in the foyer of the Barbican Library throughout October will be an exhibition of photographs of the 1956 Revolution selected from the Hungarian National Museum.
The ?Voice of Freedom? will also include two fine arts events in October. Sculptor Mária Lugossy will show her work at the HCC and Lajos Szalay will present an exhibition of graphic works at Linden House in Wolverhampton.
The London Jewish Cultural Centre will host a discussion of the 1956 Revolution entitled ?Illusions/Delusions? on October 17. The talk will be led by Melvyn Bragg and include the former British ambassadors to Hungary Sir Bryan Cartledge and Peter Unwin, as well as the writers George Gömöri and Robert Littell. On October 26, the London Jewish Cultural Institute will hold a Hungary study day with lectures, talks and a screening of István Szabó?s film ?Sunshine?. In the evening, Bogyay will hold a discussion with New York-based writer Evi Blaikie about her experience as a child hidden in Hungary during the Holocaust. The London Jewish Cultural Institute will close its series of events on Hungary with a Hungarian music soirée entitled ?From Goldmark to Seiber?. Works by Hungarian Jewish composers will be performed by singer Kornélia Pérchy, flautist Gabriella Kopiás and pianist Katalin Alter.
The HCC and the National Federation of Hungarians in England have organised a memorial event to mark the 1956 Revolution in London on October 21. The guest of honour will be Sir Bryan Cartledge.
Another memorial organised by the HCC will be held in St James?s Palace on November 13. The patron of the event is Prince Charles.
Advising Undersecretary in charge of international relations at the Ministry of Education and Culture Katalin Bogyay, who has headed the HCC since November 1999, will oversee the programmes and the centre until her successor is appointed.
For more information on ?The Voice of Freedom? visit: www.hungary.org.uk
