Before European composers were exposed to such influences as Indian ragas and Balinese gamelan, they turned to the nearby East -- Hungary, Romania and Slovakia -- for exotic tone colors. To illustrate this link between classical and folk forms, Washington's Post-Classical Ensemble is presenting "Csardas!," a program that places pieces by Bartok, Liszt, Schubert and Brahms next to the sort of traditional melodies that inspired them. The latter music will be performed by the Gazsa Hungarian Folk Music Band, a Budapest group led by violinist Istzan "Gazsa" Papp.

Hungarian Courtship Rites With Plenty of Rough Stuff
by CLAUDIA LA ROCCO for the New York Times

... the Budapest Ensemble from Hungary, directed and choreographed by Zoltan Zsurafszki. The two-hour program at Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in the Bronx did not quite live up to its jazzy title: "Csardas! The Tango of the East." According to program notes, the performance took the form of a "play-party" game in which a boy and girl enact an arduous courtship. A girl is kidnapped and her suitor searches for her high and low as she endures wild, masculine dancing and rough treatment with his rival. Eventually, he finds her and the game ends, much as it began, with much merriment.

published: November 1, 2005