Bernstein100: The Jazz Side Story Nikoletta Szőke and Bálint Gájer

In 2018, people the world over will celebrate 100 years since the birth of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. At Müpa Budapest, Nikoletta Szőke and Bálint Gájer, two popular figures of Hungarian jazz and easy listening, will play a selection of his most popular songs in a jazz style, accompanied by some of Hungary's finest musicians. While Bernstein is well known as a classical musician, conductor, composer and world-renowned leader of the New York Philharmonic, few people ...are aware that he also played piano in a jazz club in his youth. He had a close relationship with jazz music, and there are greater and lesser traces of this affinity throughout his musical career.
This joint production brings the jazz-infused aspects of Bernstein's music to the fore. The concert will feature some of his best-known tunes, including Maria and Somewhere from West Side Story, Some Other Time Story from On the Town and I Am Easily Assimilated from Candide, the operetta based on Voltaire's famous novel. The presence of the two Hungarian singers ensures exceptional quality, authentic renditions and unforgettable entertainment. Nikoletta Szőke, whose new album Moonglow will be released in the autumn, has been one of Hungary's most highly-acclaimed jazz singers ever since she won the Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition in 2005, while the dulcet-toned Bálint Gájer, whose style faithfully recalls New Orleans of the 1920s and 1930s, is the only true crooner in Hungary - ‘the Hungarian Michael Bublé'. As well as duets and solo performances, the audience will also be treated to a selection of short films featuring Bernstein himself.