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The Ferenc Liszt Chamber Orchestra (Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra = FLCO; Liszt Ferenc Kamarazenekar = LFKZ) was founded in 1963 by string players in their final year at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. They took the name of the great composer, to pay homage to the genious who became inseparable with the establishment of Hungarian music and whose spirit irradiates the musical life of the entire world. Since then they plays a very significant role in Hungary's musical life, and have attained a world-wide reputation.
The FLCO consists of 17 strings and according to the programmes a harpsichord soloist completes the Ensemble, as well as wind and other instrumentalists. Their first music director was Frigyes Sándor. Since his death in 1979, this post has been held by János Rolla, one of Hungary's leading violinists, who has been concert-master of the orchestra since its inception. The repertoire of the FLCO spans almost the entire history of music from Monteverdi, J.S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, W.A. Mozart to the Romantics and to the 20th Century composers.
The FLCO presents 30-35 concerts each year at home. They also regularly tours almost in every European countries, in the USA, South America, Far East, Japan, Australia, and so on. They have their own festival (Zemplén Arts Days) and also organise the yearly National Chamber Orchestra Colloquium and Course, but they have been featured at other renowned festivals such as Ascona, Bath, Besançon, Edinburgh, Flanders, Gstaad, Helsinki, Lucerne, Montreaux, Prades, Salzburg, and Santander. The FLCO has collaborated on its concerts and recordings with many noted instrumentalists and singers, including Maurice André, Martha Argerich, A. Fischer, P. Frankl, Edita Gruberová, Zoltán Kocsis, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, Midori Gotō, S. Mintz, Igor Oistrakh, G. Pauk, M. Perényi, R. Raimondi, Jean-Pierre Rampal, D. Ránki, V. Repin, Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, András Schiff, J. Starker, Isaac Stern, Henryk Szeryng, and T. Vasary.
The FLCO has made more than 200 recordings for the Hungaroton label and has released other discs for CBS, Teldec, EMI, Erato, Denon, and Sony Classical. The FLCO has received three Grand Prix awards of the French Academie du Disque in Paris, including one for a recording of George Frideric Handel cantatas and one for A. Vivaldi motets, and has received numerous Hungarian "Record of the Year" awards. |
