Sunday, 16 October, Kolarac Hall, 20.00
ISTVAN VARGA, violoncello
GÁBOR CSALOG, piano
Homage to Great Hungarian Composers
Liszt: Elegy No. 1, for cello and piano
Ligeti: Sonata for Solo Cello
Liszt: Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth (The Nonnenwerth Cloisters), for cello and piano
Ligeti: Études for solo piano (a selection)
Liszt: La lugubre gondola (Die Trauergondel), for cello and piano
Liszt: Elegy No. 2, for cello and piano    
Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages, for solo piano and solo cello (alternately)
Kodály: Adagio, for cello and piano
Bartók: Rhapsody No. 1, for cello and piano
Ticket prices: 300, 500, 700 din.

ISTVAN VARGA
Istvan Varga studied cello at the Faculty of  Music in Belgrade (Viktor Jakovčić), Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest (Mező László - Bartok Quartet) and Paris Conservatoire (Maurice Gendron), as well as chamber music with  Kurtág György and Rados Ferenc at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest.
He was a professor of cello and chamber music at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and a professor of cello at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade.
Istvan Varga was a solo cellist of the BGO Dusan Skovran. He established and led the chamber orchestra Camerata Academica, which under his leadership became one of the most respected orchestras in the country, especially for contemporary music. Together with Maja Jokanović and Dejan Mladjenović he was founding member of the highly acclaimed Goldberg string trio.
As an artistic director of the Novi Sad Music Festival (NOMUS) he organised an international chamber music festival & workshop.
As a soloist and a chamber musician he performs, in Europe, in Japan, Thailand and the USA. He collaborated with renowned musicians, among others – Jashvili, Vernikov, A. Markov,
V. Afanasiev, Bogino, Yerokhin, Madžar, Stančul, Hink, Varjabedian, Eötvös, A. Keller, Takacs-Nagy, A. Fischer, A. Ligeti,  the UMZE Chamber Ensemble and Bobby McFerrin, with whom he performed Vivaldi’s double concerto in Budapest.
He currently lives in Budapest, where he teaches cello and chamber music at the Bartok Conservatory of Music and is the solo cellist of the Hungarian Radio Orchestra.
His frequent performances with the pianist Gábor Csalog, have been highly praised by the composer György Kurtág, as well as by the Hungarian critics.
Istvan Varga regularly holds master classes in France, the USA and Hungary.

GÁBOR CSALOG
Gábor Csalog was only 11 years old when he was admitted to the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music - Faculty for Special Talents. His teachers were various well known musicians, such as as Erna Czövek, Klára Máthé, Dezsõ Ránki, András Schiff, György Kurtág and Zoltán Kocsis. After graduating from the Ferenc Liszt Academy, he continued his studies in the United States at the University of Indiana where he worked with György Sebõk . Over two following years he was subsequently the assistant-professor in the same class.
Gábor Csalog established close professional contacts with several Hungarian composers, which has resulted in numerous first performances of their works and several compositions dedicated to this unique musician. From 2000 onwards he has become one of the most important artists who premiered  György Ligeti’s new piano works in Hungary. His repertory includes classical pieces as well, especially rare and infrequently preformed compositions.
Besides his recitals and chamber music concerts in Hungary, Gábor Csalog has appeared at guest-performances in nearly every European capital, as well as in the USA. He is teaching piano at the Bartók Conservatory of Music and chamber music at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest.
In 2003 Gábor Csalog was awarded the prestigious Liszt-prize.
For Könemann Music Budapest he has recorded  Chopin’s complete works. His other major recordings include all the Chopin-mazurkas (Hungaroton), The Etudes of Liszt and Ligeti, pieces of Scriabin, and “The Plays” of Kurtág.