Where Budapest Meets Berkeley
The Museum will be CLOSED on May 9th. Instead, we will be at the Hungarian Heritage Festival in Belmont. We would love to see you there!
More info here: https://www.hungarianheritagefestival.com
Piano Rivals is the working title of a documentary about the two leading pianists and piano composers in Europe during the romantic era, Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt. It is the second part of a planned trilogy with focus on classical music and how it connects with history and people. The first was “Beethoven – Freedom of the Will” which received prizes at film festivals in Japan, Singapore and Sweden. Piano Rivals will tell the story of two composers from small countries in the middle of Europe, squeezed between much more powerful countries and their interests. Neither Poland nor Hungary existed as independent nations, ruled by Russia and the Habsburg monarchy respectively. Both Chopin and Liszt associated strongly with their nations. Born only a year apart, both composers became symbols for their countries and their fight for independence. This lives on until this day. In the world, only two airports situated in a capital bearing the name of a composer: Ferenc Liszt airport in Budapest, and Chopin Airport in Warsaw. The film will be filled with music, of course. The music is the main reason these composers touched and inspired people, and the music performed will show this. As is the case in “Beethoven – Freedom of the Will”, whole movements will be performed, performed especially for the film. This is something rather unique: usually only fragments of works are heard in documentaries. Other parts will be about historical events that make the viewers understand and feel the connection between music and history, between music and people and their lives.
Three geographical places will be the main focus: Paris, Warsaw and Budapest. Paris was the place where both composers lived at the same time, and it was the home of Chopin for most of his adult life. Warsaw and Budapest are, of course, the capitals of the native countries of the composers. As the working title alludes, these were two very diƯerent men on a personal level. Liszt was perhaps the first real international star in history, creating mass hysteria which even had a name, “Lisztomania”. Chopin refused to play in public and only performed in salon settings with friends. Liszt lived a long life, Chopin died young. Liszt was greeted as a national hero in Budapest, being carried through the streets on the shoulders of his supporters, Chopin was never able to return to Poland. Liszt used his fame and fortune to help young and unknown composers and raised enormous amounts of money to charity; Chopin was constantly struggling to make ends meet. There was no open animosity between the men, but while Liszt admired Chopin, Chopin could be quite resentful of Liszt, and what he thought was mannerisms and bad taste.
Today we are living through one of the most exciting periods in Hungarian theatre.
This is partly because theatres have become highly politicized in many cases; because public funding has been reduced, a reality felt across the entire sector; because many theatres are forced to close their doors; and because there has rarely been such a wealth of bold and daring productions on Hungarian stages as we see today.
The theatres led by Attila Vidnyánszky and Róbert Alföldi alike represent outstanding examples of contemporary theatrical processes. The same is true of Béla Pintér and Company. Beyond Budapest, however, it is equally important to consider regional and Transylvanian theatres, where audiences can experience productions of a remarkably high artistic standard.
Depending on the region and the artistic vision guiding a theatre, it can play very different roles in the life of a community, a city, or society as a whole.
SHORT BIO:
Theater director, associate professor, researcher, literary translator, Éva Patkó is member of Governing Body of Ecole des Ecoles Interdisciplinary European Universities Network(2022 to present), board member of the Theater Section of the Cluj Napoca Academic Committee KAB (2019 to present), artistic director of HD Drama Series (2013 to 2025) and external member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences since 2012.
Her research includes the aspects of identity in the theatermaking processes and the hierarchycal structures of theatermaking, also a vast view on the contemporary Romanian dramaturgy. Her latest book Változó távlatok(2025) in Hungarian language looks at contemporary directing practices. Perspectives (2023) written in English looks at the directorial perspectives on the Romanian contemporary dramaturgy. She published studies and essays in Korunk – Journal for Social Sciences and Humanities (ISSN 1222 8338, Erih +), Filologiai Közlöny – Journal of The Academy of Sciences Literature Sciences, (ISSN 00151785, Erih +), Symbolon Journal of Theatre Studies (ISSN 1582-327X, Ceool database), Jatéktér Theatrical Journal (ISSN 2285-7850, Ceool database), Látó Literary Periodical (ISSN 1220-5982) and other humanities platforms.
Mentor, program coordinator in Make a Move European ArtIncubator Project of 7 countries (2019), FabulaMundi European Playwriting Project, Lark Play Development Center cooperational projects of contemporary drama translation (2012-2024), Ovid Metamorphoses – Erasmus Intensive Programme of 7 European art universities (2014). Member of the Body, Power and Institution research team and the Philter Program of Regional (Romanian and Hungarian) Performance Analisys research project.
Éva Patkó is a Fulbright alumnae of the University of California Berkeley, Theater Dance and Performance Studies Department (Fulbright Senior Award 2018-2019) and is currently a Fulbright Professor at Starr King School for The Ministry in Oakland, CA.
