The second event within the 1956 Commemoration Season took place on Saturday 10 September. During the first edition of the Dutch –Hungarian Music Festival ZeNe in Utrecht, a chamber music concert was dedicated to the commemoration of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight.
The aim of the ZeNe Festival is to unite two cultures and to shine a spotlight on the rich Hungarian music culture, which has influenced the Dutch music scene for decades.
The festival was officially opened by Mr Zoltán Lékó, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Hungary in The Hague. In his speech, Mr Lékó expressed his gratitude to the organizers and highlighted the different purposes of the festival. He stressed that the festival provides a unique classical music experience for children and adults. Furthermore, he explained how the 1956 Revolution was the first evidence to the world that people under communist yoke wanted to choose a different life.
In the first part of the ZeNe festival, families performed for families. János and Benjamin Konrád, the Prometheus Family Trio and the Révész Children Trio played pieces by Haydn, Mozart, Shostakovich, Rachmaninov and others.
After a break in the form of a high-tea with Hungarian delicacies, the second chamber music concert focused on the commemoration of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight. Pieces that were performed in this concert included an early adaption of the Egmont Overture by Beethoven, the Dutch premiere of Trois Nocturnes Op. 34, by László Lajtha and a cello solo from ‘És keressük az igazságot’ by Peter Vigh. The latter piece was written in 2016, on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the 1956 Revolution.
The performing musicians the second chamber music concert were: Klára Würtz (piano), Marijje van Stralen (soprano), Jeanette Landré (flute), Julija Hartig & János Konrád (violin) Örzse Ádám (viola), Örs Kőszeghy (violoncello), Oxana Thijssen (harp) and Duco Burgers (piano)
The festival was concluded by a walking-dinner prepared the Embassy of Hungary’s chef János Klimaj.
The ZeNe Festival was organized by Jeroen van Dijke and Martin van der Randen, President Foundation Varieties op een Thema (V.O.E.T.). Örzse Ádám and her company Musix for You took care of the artistic leadership.
The ZeNe festival was supported by the Embassy of Hungary and sponsored by the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight 60th Anniversary Memorial Board.
