A Night in Budapest and Vienna - Antal Szalai Gypsy Band

Antal Szalai is arguably considered the best gypsy violinist in the world and the winner of the coveted "Liszt Ferenc" award.

Antal Szalai comes from a family of gypsy musicians. He has a diploma from the famous Bela Bartok Conservatory of Music in Budapest. The band has been playing together and entertaining music lovers in five continents for 25 years. They have appeared in festivals from Europe to China, from the Barbican to the Sydney Opera House. In the United States they played in 40 states to standing ovation audiences and now you can see them at Wellington's own Opera House.

The Gypsy way of making music is best explained by Antal, "The gypsies are very temperamental people and gypsy music comes from the heart. There is a lot of feeling and it is very romantic. They also play with a different sort of rhythm and some different instruments that makes it more exciting "

The Band also feature virtuoso soloists, Jeno Farkas on the famous Hungarian Cimbalom, a type of hammered dulcimer, and Laszlo Feher on Tarogato, a clarinet like instrument - as well as on the Hungarian Pan Pipe. All the members of the band are also featured on vocals.

Come and hear the evergreen traditional Hungarian and International Gypsy melodies as well as some of the most popular highlights from the world of operetta.

"Szalai is everything a Gypsy violinist should be, playing with swooning ardour and gorgeous tone, but the joy is in the total experience. This is a must-see event, whatever your musical tastes. There is nothing like it in Australia." -Sydney Morning Herald

“This is a must-see event, whatever your musical tastes. There is nothing like it in Australia” –John Shand

“Glorious night with minstrels of magic” – Sydney Morning Herald