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Reviews, critics
"Klezmer (from the Aramaic "kli" and "zemer" meaning "man becomes bearer of song") was born in eastern european villages and towns. And, its mood echoes stories, long a source of personal inspiration. Klezmer expresses emotions rich in fragility, suffering, joy and passionate slap-happiness. The Budapest Klezmer Band's superb artistry brings the folk history of a people to life, although this ensemble is never content to play only the traditional and the familar. Infusing all their arrangements with the spirit of klezmer, BKB has created original instrumentals reflecting the cultural heritage of the whole central and eastern european region."
István Szabó
film director, Academy Award Winner
"I admire this pure, enthusiastic, qualitative and virtuous music. It is a real joy for me to listen to it- one con be lost in this music with total devotion. I hope we will be given the chance to cooperative with this excellent band on their next CD."
János Rolla
concert master, Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra
"This is not simply music - this is making music like talking. It is heart- gripping sorrow, bursting joy of life. Perfect technical skill, that makes their music sound like a graceful inprovisation. It is a joy to play music with them."
Tamás Dunai
Jászai Awarded, Merited Artist
"The excellent musicians of the Budapest Klezmer Band mean past, present and future to me; I draw strength and inspiration from listening to their music."
János Kiss
art director of the Gyõr Ballet
"Your concert in Princeton was just sensational; it is rare that you see a standing ovation at intermission!"
Normann L. Leventha
President of the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind - Warrington, PA
Concert in Bochum
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Brillant: Budapester Klezmer-Band
Unter dem Motto „Jiddischkajt in Wort un Lid” wurden im Carl-Orff-Saaldie 18. Jüdischen Kulturtage eröffnet. Im Zentrum der Veranstaltungsreihe stehen Klezmerkonzerte, Dokumentaterfilme, jiddische Erzählungen und Vorträge. Im Hinblick auf die EU-Erweiterung hat die Gesellschaft zur Förderung jüdischer Kultur und Tradition auch Beiträge aus den jüngsten Beitrittsländern ins Programm genommen, die sich um die Revitalisierung ihres jüdischen Kulturerbes bemühen. Mit dabei sind Künstler aus Polen, Tshechien und Ungarn. Seit man 1989 in den USA die ungarische Klezmermusik wiederentdeckte, erlebt diese eine besondere Renaissance. Wichtigster Vertreter dieses Genres ist die Budapester Klezmer Band, die zum Auftakt der Jüdischen Kulturtage spielte.
Das Ensemble bringt die Klezmermusik auch in klassische Konzerthallen, zum Beispiel gemeinsam mit dem Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, begleitet Tanz- und Theaterproduktionen und erhielt zahlreiche Auszeichnungen für ihr Bemühen um die jüdische und jiddische Musiktradition. Auch bei den Jüdischen Kulturtagen ist die Budapester Klezmer Band kein unbekanntes Ensemble mehr. Die gruppe um Gründer, Pianist und Sänger Ferenc Jávori trat diesmal mit ihrem neuen Programm „Yiddische Blues” an und unternahm damit eine Reise durch Europa. Die brillante siebenköpfige Budapester Klezmer Band präsentierte dabei traditionalle jüdische Musik die in Zentral- und Osteuropa Teil eines kulturellen Ganzen gewesen war und sparte Klezmer-Tango und –Blues nicht aus. Im Wechsel zwischen sprühender Vitalität und tiefer Traurigkeit erklangen auf Klarinette (exzellent gespielt von István Kohán), Posaune, Akkordeon, Kontrabass, Schlagzeug und per Stimme rasante Rhythmen oder Kantilenen voller Wehmut. Interessant dabei, wie ähnlich sich europaweit die Klänge sind.
Dorothea Hußlein
(Münchner Merkur, 16. November 2004.)
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Mooi geslaagde Klezmersuite
dinsdag, 19.10.2004
Concert: Budapester Klezmer Band met de Jiddische Suite
Plaats: Harmonie, Leeuwarden
Belangstelling: 300 bezoekers
HESSEL FLUITMAN
Bij het concert van de Budapester Klezmer Band kwamen allerlei zaken en stromingen samen. Bij gelegenheid van het feit dat Hongarije toetrad tot de Europese Unie, is vanuit dat land een culturele invasie georganiseerd naar Nederland onder de noemer: Hongarije aan Zee. Er zijn meer dan 250 gebeurtenissen georganiseerd. Met concerten, boekpresentaties, ballet, film en popmuziek moet de Nederlandse bevolking meer bekend worden gemaakt met de Hongaarse cultuur.
Binnen dit kader trekt ook de Budapester Klezmer Band dit najaar door Nederland. Met een dubbele agenda: voor de pauze zijn reguliere klezmerprogramma, met oude en nieuwe stukken en na de pauze met de Klezmersuite. De band wordt dan ondersteund door een strijkorkest, bestaande uit leden van het Nederlands Filharmonisch Orkest.
Humor
Met opgewekte muziek luidden ze de avond in. Lekker fel en met humor. Nieuw op het programma stond Lechayim Rebbe. Dat werd dan ook met nadruk vermeld. Een beetje vette verbeelding van een drinkende rabbi. De Fiddler on the Roof Suite was daarentegen weer lichtvoetig en werd met veel verve gespeeld. De violist Bence Gazda en klarinettist Istvan Hohan kregen ruimschoots de gelegenheid om hun uitgebreide muzikale mogelijkheden te tonen. De frele Anna Nagy, accordeoniste, kreeg in een duo-setting met de violist de kans om haar kunnen op haar grote instrument te etaleren.
Het was wel vermakelijk te zien, hoe de violist als een prototype van een Jiddische muzikant was gekleed in een slecht passende broek, met hoedje en een ongeschoren kin. Maar ondertussen speelde hij als een leeuw. In het programma voor de pauze speelde de band een werkelijk internationaal programma en alles met een Jiddische touch: onder andere een Jiddische tango en een Jiddische blues. De tango was helemaal Argentijns en helemaal Klezmer. Bij de blues kregen we van hetzelfde laken een pak.
Akoestisch
Na de pauze kwamen de strijkers mee het toneel op en moesten we wel met heel andere oren gaan luisteren. Nu was er geen tijd meer voor lekker schmieren, tegen elkaar opbieden en geintjes maken onder het spelen door. De muziek was nu uitgeschreven en vooral akoestisch. Ferenc Javori, de pianist/leider van de band, had met allerlei Jiddische melodieën en composities van zichzelf de Klezmersuite opgebouwd tot een mooi klinkend geheel. Elk stuk had zo zijn eigen accenten en bijzonderheden. Het ene was zwaar in mineur, het andere had een bijna frivool Latijns-Amerikaans claves-accent in het ritme. Dan weer was de compositie als een fuga opgebouwd. Dat maakte de suite tot een afwisselend geheel. Een mooie mix van klassieke en klezmermuziek.
Concert: Budapester Klezmer Band met de Jiddische Suite
Plaats: Harmonie, Leeuwarden
Belangstelling: 300 bezoekers
Bijzonderheden: de Budapester Klezmer Band geeft op 28 november een concert in De Lawei
in Dachten
Uit: Friesche Courant 7/10/2004
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Renaissance Man Review click here to reach the whole text
(Union Chapel - London, 2003.11.29.)
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Fetzige Show mit Pep und Tradition
Klezmerkonzert für Wuppertaler in Not fand in der Friedhofskirche statt.
Wuppertal. Zum Benefizkonzert für "WIN" (Wuppertaler in Not) luden Kirchen und Gewerkschaften in die Elberfelder Friedhofskirche. Da der Auftritt der "Budapest Klezmer Band" gesponsert wurde, kommt der Erlös in vollem Umfang dem Verein zu Gute. Die Vollblutmusiker um den Bandleader, Arrangeur und Pianisten Ferenc Javori heizten dem Publikum in der gut besetzten Kirche ein. Ebenso melancholisch wie feurig kommt die Musik daher, die einst die osteuropäischen Juden vorübergehend von den Sorgen des Hungers, der Armut und der Verfolgung befreite.
Neben den typischen überlieferten Melodien, ursprünglich überschwänglich-fröhliche Tanzlieder, die zu Hochzeiten gespielt wurden, und traurige Erzählungen, von Eszter Biro hinreißend gesungen, hat die Band ihren eigenen Stil entwickelt, ohne die musikalischen Wurzeln zu verleugnen.
"Jewish Tango" ist schon in der jüdischen Kultur entstanden, aber als "Yiddish Blues" oder "Dixi" bezeichnen die Musiker ihre fetzige, mit freien Jazzelementen angereicherte, mitreißende Musik, der eine humorvolle "Bühnenshow" mit minimalistischer Verkleidung den letzten Pep verlieh. Eine Form emanzipierter Klezmer ist hier in der populären Musikszene entstanden.
Da hatten auch Posaune (Gabor Tamas) und Schlagzeug (Balazs Végh) neben den typischen Klezmer-Instrumenten ihre Berechtigung. Einzigartig virtuos spielten Anna Nagy (Akkordeon), Istvan Kohan (Klarinetten), Bence Gazda (Violine) und Gabor Kiss (Bass) ihre Instrumente, ließen auch in Improvisationen keine Wünsche offen. Ein rundum zufriedenes Publikum, am Ende gar mitsingend und klatschend, verließ froh gelaunt ein bemerkenswertes Konzert.
Von Veronika Pantel
Kultur in Wuppertal - Westdeutsche Zeitung
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DANCE REVIEW: Live Klezmer Punctuates This Modernist Megillah
The story of Queen Esther, who saved her fellow Jews from death in the Persian Empire, is retold annually in the Jewish festival of Purim. On Tuesday night at the Joyce Theater, the same tale was retold in somewhat abstract form in ''Purim, the Casting of Fate,'' a two-act dance piece presented by the Gyor National Ballet Theater from Hungary.
The dancers, classically trained but open to contemporary idioms, are very good, the onstage Budapest Klezmer Band is excellent, the dramaturgy creates some surprises and the choreography is bland.
On balance, this New York debut by the Gyor National Ballet Theater, scheduled to perform at the Joyce through Sunday, is welcome in its youthful energy and creative edge.
''Purim'' may not necessarily be a typical work. It has all the earmarks of being created by too many cooks. The company was founded in Budapest in 1979 by recent graduates of the Hungarian State Ballet Institute. Ivan Marko, a Hungarian star with Maurice Béjart's company in Brussels, was invited to direct the young troupe. When he left in 1991, Janos Kiss, a founding member, became director.
On tour in Israel, Mr. Kiss met Ferenc Javori, who founded the Budapest Klezmer Band in 1990. Mr. Kiss and Mr. Javori enlisted Robert Ben Turan, a playwright and director of the Jewish Museum in Budapest, to write the scenario for ''Purim.'' Istvan Juhos, a Hungarian-born dancer who worked in Israel, and William Fomin, a Cuban dancer and choreographer in the company, are the work's choreographers.
Their idiom is an attempted amalgam of ballet technique (especially in the men's bravura), folk dance and nonclassical movement that has no clearly defined signature.
The piece looks like a modern-dance work but does not have a contemporary language of its own. The choreography becomes one-dimensional: it is neither abstract nor expressive enough. Character is rarely revealed through a remolding of the body while the pure-movement passages could channel energy more strongly into shifts of mood.
Nonetheless, ''Purim'' is an experimental work. The idea of a non-Jewish dance company creating a piece on a Jewish theme drew some anti-Semitic protests in Hungary. There is also a welcome refusal to remain on a literal plane. Robert Menczel's set is a plus and the musicians' integration into the action sets the tone from the start.
The zigguratlike black set suggests a temple arch, with the band on top. The musicians descend the steps on each side. Later, a huge cube revolves to symbolize dice and the plan of Haman, the king's minister, to cast lots to determine the day of the Jews' massacre.
The story begins as a flashback with a Chagall-like figure taking out the Scroll of Esther from a trunk. A violinist plays a mournful tune, emblematic of the wide range of Mr. Javori's score, which can turn into pure soundtrack.
Mr. Ben Turan's scenario adds a female angel to tell Esther she must save her people and there is a strong touch when Esther becomes invisible, protected by a heavenly blue light. Ingrid Gottlicher's simple stylized costumes are part of the production's attempt to universalize a message about self-sacrifice for the community and the moral good. Something is lost nonetheless in playing down the tale's Jewish specificity. Jerome Robbins too once thought his version of ''The Dybbuk'' was a universal ghost story similar to ''El Brujo'' in Spain. Not exactly.
It takes, then, some time to sort out who was who on stage. But Ervin Muller, with an astounding spring in his leaps, is a powerful Haman. Balazs Patkai grows into a persuasive king and best of all, Otto Demesak as Mordechai, Esther's uncle, has a magnificent stage presence. Szabina Cserpak's Esther, full of straight-armed movement, is lyrical and Hajnalka Szantai has some wit as the rejected queen.
(The New York Times 02.21.2002.)
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Esther's Dance
Biblical heroism, ballet storytelling and klezmer music are combined in the work presented by the Gyor National Ballet Theater of Hungary when it makes its New York City debut at 8 p.m. tomorrow at the Joyce Theater. Performed through Sunday, the attraction is ''Purim,'' a full-length ballet by William Fomin and Istvan Juhos that puts the seven-member Budapest Klezmer Band onstage, moving among the dancers as it retells the ancient tale celebrated by the Jewish holiday Purim, which begins on Feb. 25.
(The New York Times 02.18.2002.)
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6. december 1998
One and a half years ago we were visting Budapest and wanted to see the Budapester Klezmer Band but you were not performing while we were there. Then while we were visiting the Jewish Museum next to the Great Synagogue we heard your CD and bought it. We have been fans ever since. Then when I saw your video-tape I was even more impressed. You are one of the very best klezmer ensembles I have heard perform and I believe you would be very popular in the United States, in the right places.
Barry and Gloria Blum
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Photo: Paul László
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28. november 1998
We were all very delighted and honored to have the Klezmer Band perform a concert at our condregation. Our members, friends, and neighbours are still talking about the event which will be remembered as one of the most extraordinary cultural events in recent times in our neighbourhood.
Rabbi Stephen Berkowitz
New York 1998. Dec.
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When Albert and Ellen Stark were in Budapest, they were so taken with a klezmer band they decided to bring it to Princeton. That turned out be easier said than done. But for the SRO crowd who heard the Budapester Klezmer Band at Richardson Auditorium last week, yours truly included, it was worth the effort. The joyous Jewish folk music brought everyone back to their roots, and you could see a few misty eyes full of memories in that audience.
(The Tretonian 16.11.1998.)
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15. november 1998
Your concert in Princeton was just sensational - many thanks to Ferenc, István, Gábor, Anna, Katica, Balázs and Gábor who were so well recieved by the audience. It is rare that you see a standing ovation at intermission!
Norman L. Leventha,
President
Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind
Warrington, PA
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However, in 1990 h felt a sharp urge to show more, and founded the Budapester Klezmer Band to play Jewish folk music, collected by Fegya himself both in the Soviet Union and Hungary. The breakthrough was the band's first CD published by the French company Harmonia Mundi, and the band soon became popular in seventeen countries all over Europe. Since then they have conquered Israel and the United States, too.
(Népszava 26.09.1998.)
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Katica is a real musician, two tries to conquer more and more fields of music. She started to play the violin at the age of three, and after graduating from the Budapest Academy of Music, has started to enrich her style with Gypsy music, jazz and klezmer. Meanwhile she permanently develops her singing and dancing skills, so it is almost natural that she is the star in the title role os the Fiddler on the Roof at the Budapest Madách Theatre as well as of the Budapester Klezmer Band.
(Bonton, September, 1998.)
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About two weeks before the first night of the Fiddler on the Roof there was a great commotion az the rehearsal at the Budapest Madách Theatre. The scenarist of the musical arrived out of the blue. Everybody knew that a 24 member orchestra used to accompany the play all over the world, however at this theatre only the seven members of the Budapester Klezmer Band provided the music. The theatre people decided to tell a tale: all the other musicians happen to lie in bed with the flu. However after the rehearsal the scenarist complimented the bandleader on the music, and added that the other musicians can stay at home as the production of the band was more than satisfactory...
(Magyar Hírlap 28.8.1998.)
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In the second part of the show the Israeli audience could meet the seven members of the Budapester Klezmer Band. It was a staggering experience to listen to these most gifted musicians. They were excellent, without exception. The walls of Héjchál Hátárbut trembled of the applause for the outstanding ensemble lead by Ferenc Jávori. The brighest star of the klezmer band and of the whole show was Katica Illényi. This charming, fragile girl conquered the audience with her fiddling, singing and dancing.
(Új Kelet-Israel 10.03.1998.)
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Ferenc "Fegya" Jávori was born in 1946 in the small Hungarian town of Munkács, in the Soviet Union. After graduating as a violinist in Lemberg, he left the Soviet Union, came to Hungary, and fiddled in the orchestra of the Budapest Operetta Theatre for more the 15 years.
(Nõk Lapja)
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The reportedly cool Dutch public celebrated the performance of the Budapester Klezmer Band with standing ovation. The audience had reacted the same way in Prague and Vienna, the former stations of the band's tour. Now they are to return to Italy and Poland, following the success of their earlier concerts there, and for the next year they have already invitations the Isreal, the homeland of klezmer and the United States.
(Kurír 17.10.1997.)
