A marathon music program awaits those interested on May 13 at the House of Hungarian Music; For the first time in Hungary, Olivier Messiaen's monumental work, the Bird Catalog, will be presented in its entirety as part of a public concert, performed by pianist László Borbély.

French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) is one of the special figures of 20th century music, who was also a birder. His more than two-hour Bird Catalog, which captures the songs of almost eighty bird species in sheet music, is one of the largest keyboard compositions in the history of music, and only a few people around the world undertake a one-night, complete performance of it, they emphasize in the announcement.

The organizers point out that one of the exceptions is pianist László Borbély, who is performing the complete composition for the first time in Hungary. The artist already recorded the work two years ago, so he can be considered its most experienced Hungarian performer.

As they say, Messiaen's music is unique with its rhythms, cinematic variability, richness of color and character, and sensuality. His piano work "Bird Catalog" evokes the songs of almost eighty European bird species "literally", since the work is the song of the birds written in sheet music and was written based on the author's exact notes. In addition, it also displays the habitats of the given species, a total of thirteen, be it an Alpine glacier or the shores of the Riviera.

Another special feature of the performance on Saturday from 5:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. is that the detailed content of each movement, i.e., all the text notes written by the author in the sheet music, will be available on the projector.

The entire work is performed in three parts, and between the individual parts, the audience can listen to the performance of music historian Gergely Fazekas and ornithologist Zoltán Orbán, spokesperson of the MME. Among other things, Gergely Fazekas talks about whether birds can be considered composers, and Zoltán Orbán gives a presentation about birders accompanied by bird sounds and photos, the announcement states.

More details about the event can be found on the MME website, https://www.mme.hu/messiaen-madarkatalousa-magyar-zene-hazaban-az-mme-kozremukodesevel-majus-13-szombaton-17-00-21-30- on the internet site.

MTI

Cover photo: House of Hungarian Music (MTI/Márton Mónus)