Written by Anna PopperDeputy Editor-in-Chief / Diplomatic Magazine

For a nice start of the New Year 2022, an inaugural concert was held by the Italian Cultural Institute (IIC) and MÁV Orchestra at the Grand Hall of Pesti Vigadó. In his opening speech, the IIC director, Mr. Gabriele La Posta addressed the audience:

“It is a great pleasure to welcome you and see you again in this beautiful hall of the Vigadó, and to return to our live events. The concert at the beginning of the year has been a high tradition of our Institute, which we wanted to relaunch despite all the organizational difficulties due to the pandemic. And we want to do it great because you, our friends, the audience deserves it, and because the entertainment sector deserves it, particularly live entertainment, as one of the most affected by the pandemic. We would like to mark this event with a large number of artists of the highest value. I would like to sincerely thank the members of the MÁV Orchestra and its director, Maestro György Lendvai. These excellent musicians are conducted today by Maestro Claudio Morbo, an Italian conductor, living in Hungary for years and to whom I express my gratitude.

We present a happy fusion of Italian and Hungarian musicians, accompanied by the notes of great Italian music. In Part 1 we can listen to instrumental music, including the Violin Concerto No. 22 composed by Giovanni B. Viotti, anItalian violinist and composer, performed by one of the illustrious representatives of the extraordinary Italian violin tradition, Maestro Domenico Nordio, a great artist of international reputation. In Part 2 we move to Belcanto, enjoying the greatest arias of Italian operas by Verdi, Cilea and Puccini, performed by two excellent Hungarian singers: the world-famous soprano Andrea Rost and a young tenor, Bartos Barna, surprising us with his outstanding voice. The Italian music and the protagonists of the concert will cheer us up and give a positive impetus.

On behalf of the Italian Cultural Institute, I wish you Good Health, Happy and Prosperous New Year 2022!”