The Academy of Music is one of Budapest’s attractions which is a definite must to see. Besides providing musical events as the centre of Hungary’s musical life, the building itself is also a unique sight. A creation of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries – one of the most glorious eras of Hungarian architecture –, it has been preserved in an exceptionally intact condition. Built in a golden age defined by masterpieces of late Historicism and Art Nouveau, the Academy of Music is an integral part of Budapest’s characteristic cityscape and urban fabric. The intense activity of this period – the simultaneous birth of society, culture and a capital city at an accelerated pace – was matched by the ambition to have a worthy home for Hungarian higher education in music which, at the same time, also expressed national identity. Now a university in its own right, the Liszt Academy boasts a concert hall which, to this day, continues to play host to the world’s finest musicians: perhaps it is the power of the music itself that sustains in youthful beauty this sanctuary of Hungarian musical education and concert life.
Written by: András Batta, Ferenc Bor, János Gerle, Orsolya Kovács, Tibor Fényi, Katalin Gellér , Endre Raffay, Miklós Armuth
Founded by Ferenc Liszt, the Academy of Music is a real gem of today’s Budapest: opened in 1907, the building is one of the most beautiful fin-de-siècle music palaces, with structural and stylistic innovations matched by a Gesamtkunstwerk attention reaching the finest of details and uniting the highest achievements in the applied arts. The authors of this publication guide the Reader through the building and its history, unravelling the secrets encoded in the symbols of its architecture and artwork.
This book was named the winner of the 2007 Beautiful Hungarian Book Award in the category of art books.
