CESSE Conference / Concerts / János Bali / SPRING (2016), FLESH! (2018), FELIX CELI PORTA (2010) / Performed by János Bali, Zsanett Szatzker, Júlia Kaposi and Dóra Pétery / BMC / 01.12.18.
János Bali: three pieces
spring1 /sprɪŋ/ n 1 act of jumping up. 2 water coming up from the ground. 3 device of twisted, bent or coiled metal or wire which tends to return to its shape or position when pulled or pushed or pressed. 4 elastic quality. 5 cause or origin. spring2 /sprɪŋ/ n season of the year in which vegetation begins. spring3 /sprɪŋ/ v 1 jump suddenly from the ground. 2 appear. 5 cause to operate by means of a mechanism. 6 warp, split, crack. (Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English, 1974)
flesh /fleʃ/ n 1 soft substance, esp muscle, between the skin and bones of animal bodies: Tigers are ~- eating animals. ~ and blood, human nature with its emotion, weakness, etc. 2 the ~, physical or bodily desires; sensual appetites: the sins ot the ~. 3 the body (contrasted with the mind and soul): The spirit is willing but the ~ is weak. 4 pulpy part of fruits and vegatables. (Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English, 1974)
Felix caeli porta, “happy gate to heaven”— door somewhere in the attic rooms of a disused house, uninhabited residence of clergyman, next to a suburban highway. Brown and grey mice runnig across. Underneath, the groundfloor, a huge, dark chapel, full of broken old furniture; rubbish, garbage everywhere, even old computers and monitors, coated with dust. A small dome-shaped roof above, the cross is missing; over all the clouds, the winds, and…
About János Bali
Recorder player, conductor, composer; assistant professor at Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest. Owner of Liszt-price.
as recorder player
his repertory covers the whole literature of the instrument, from middle ages to the newest music; he premiered works of finest Hungarian componists (Kurtág, Vidovszky, Kondor, Tornyai), several new pieces are dedicated to him. Soloist and member of ensembles, he played a lot of concerts from Roumania to US and from Scandinavia to Malta.
as recorder player,
his repertory covers the whole literature of the instrument, from middle ages to the newest music; he premiered works of finest Hungarian componists (Kurtág, Vidovszky, Kondor, Tornyai), several new pieces are dedicated to him. Soloist and member of ensembles, he played a lot of concerts from Roumania to US and from Scandinavia to Malta.
as conductor,
he has founded the all-male vocal group A:N:S Chorus; their six CDs with 15th century mass music, Obrecht and Agricola, enjoyed a warm reception in the most renowned critical forums (Gramophon–GB, Diapason–F, medieval.org–USA, klassik.com–D). As orchestral conductor, his repertoire includes music from Bach Passions to Pierrot Lunaire.
as composer,
he has written mainly chamber music, with or without electronics. A great number of his compositions uses the recorder, we find even solos in his output. He made nine semi-improvised avantgarde operas with children. His „Introduction to the avantgarde – for recordes players” (Editio Musica Budapest, 2013) is a big sucsess in Europe and in the USA as well.
as musicologist,
he has made researches concerning the recorder and renaissance music. His book on the recorder (in Hungarian; „A furulya” Editio Musica Budapest, 2007) is the biggest and most comprehensive monography of the intrument ever written. He is the editor of works of György Kurtág. He edited a lot of recorder music, renaissance vocal polyphony and early classical symphonies too.
as teacher,
he has given courses on music history, aesthetics, improvisation and recorder in several Hungarian universities; actually he is reader at Pázmány Péter Catholic University and lectures at Pécs University.
In 2010 he was honoured with the Liszt-Price, the highest Hungarian state award for musicians.