SOLD-OUT - Muzsikás and Friends – Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny (IRL)

You can watch a recording of the concert held on 28 January 2023 at the House of Music at the link below:

Muzsikás, first came together in 1973, will open their 50th anniversary year at the House of Music Hungary in the company of two legendary Irish musicians, Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny, and some other distinguished contributors. The last fifty years in the life of the Muzsikás ensemble have of course gifted countless unforgettable encounters, and the Irvine-Lunny duo's performance at the concert will be a reminder of one of these. In addition to the mutual sympathies and friendship of the musicians, another important parallel is that the Irish duo led Irish folk music to be accepted and recognised throughout the world, a noble goal that Muzsikás has been striving to achieve with Hungarian folk music for the past five decades.

Muzsikás is one of the most popular Hungarian folk music ensembles in Hungary, and the best known abroad. One of the nation’s cultural ambassadors, the group is quite at home at folk and world music festivals, as well as at classical music concerts. They were the first to succeed in winning acceptance for Hungarian folk music around the world as an independent musical style equal to any other genre. The Muzsikás band recorded three albums in the eighties (Nem úgy van most, mint volt régen… [It’s not like it used to be] 1982, Nem arról hajnallik, amerről hajnallott… [The sun doesn’t rise where once it did] 1986, Ősz az idő [The time is autumn] 1989) with perfectly organic arrangements of some of the most demanding folk songs, which remain exemplars for all world musicians. Similarly ground-breaking and world-conquering musical arrangements were featured on the releases by the Irish band Planxty that were recorded a few years earlier. The Muzsikás songs echo the sound of the Irish buzuki (actually a long-necked mandolin), and are an everlasting reminder of the friendship between Hungarian and Irish musicians. On stage at the House of Music Hungary, the musicians of Muzsikás and their Irish friends Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunnyt will evoke this sound, which is characteristic of all of them. Muzsikás will also be joined by other local guests. Alongside two regulars, Borbála Hanga Kacsó and István Berecz, Kálmán Balogh will be adding the cimbalom to the band’s sound, and Soma Salamon the flute.