The large-bodied, pedaled cimbalom - the version of the instrument familiar to us today - and the warm-sounding tárogató were both created by József Schunda Venzel in the latter half of the 19th century. The prototype of the latter was introduced around the same time as the "Turkish pipe”, as the tárogató is also known, developed by János Stowasser, another Budapest instrument-maker. After a heyday lasting several decades, both instruments faded in popularity. They then came back into fash...ion in the 20th century, but soon receded back into obscurity. The work of cimbalom player Aladár Rácz briefly seemed to herald the instrument's return to the classical music stage, but the dulcimer-type instrument eventually remained confined primarily to the realms of Hungarian "nóta” songs and folk music. At the turn of the millennium, the situation suddenly changed with the emergence of highly trained performers blessed with enormous talent and a yen for experimentation, who breathed new life into the two storied instruments. Today, with the exception of popular music, the tárogató and the cimbalom can be heard in every musical genre.
Luckily, modern instrument-makers are also able to accommodate new requirements and, in consort with the musicians, have made significant changes. Three such craftsmen - master cimbalom-makers Ákos Nagy and Balázs Kovács and master tárogató-maker József Tóth - will be joining the musicians to talk about these and related matters.
Presented by: Müpa Budapest
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
Safe ticket purchase
Dear Visitors, please note that only tickets purchased from the Müpa website and official ticket offices are guaranteed to be valid. To avoid possible inconvenience, we suggest buying tickets to our performances and concerts via the mupa.hu website, the Interticket national network (jegy.hu) or at our official ticket offices.