Lukács Miklós: Timeless

The musical history of the past creeps in again and again as a subtle spice in his work, sometimes in the form of classical music, sometimes jazz, sometimes traditional musical cultures. At the same time, the cimbalom musician focuses primarily on the present and not on musical ancestry, so that the melodies he sings are able to engage the listener's emotional memory and give him the pleasure of a first hearing. The arrangements are complemented by an original composition, Aura - Hommage à Péter Eötvös, in which Miklós Lukács creates a new quality by fusing accessible melody and contemporary musical experience, paying tribute to the composer-personality who died in March. The material from his solo album Timeless will be heard live for the first time at this concert.

Both at home and abroad, Miklós Lukács was the man who brought the cimbalom as a solo instrument to the forefront of contemporary music and jazz, developing a range of techniques beyond the traditional playing style to achieve unique sounds. Composers such as Péter Eötvös and Béla Szakcsi Lakatos have written pieces for him, and he has played with musicians and orchestras such as Archie Shepp, Bill Frisell, Chris Potter, Uri Caine, Frank London and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. After his achievements in contemporary music and jazz, it was time for him to turn his attention to the popular side of the repertoire, where he is also a world leader: never before has a release been produced that features well-known songs that exploit the diversity and potential of the solo cimbalom.