Liszt Academy of Music
Liszt founded the school in 1875. A generation later it got the building it deserved.
At a glance
The Liszt Academy of Music — in Hungarian the Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, known simply as the Zeneakadémia — is a music university and concert hall on Liszt Ferenc square in central Budapest. Founded by Franz Liszt himself in 1875, the academy moved in 1907 into a new building at the corner of Király Street. Designed by Flóris Korb and Kálmán Giergl, it is one of the city’s major Art Nouveau buildings, as celebrated for its decorated interior as for its acoustics.
Key facts
- Architects: Flóris Korb and Kálmán Giergl
- Building erected: 1907
- Academy founded: 1875, by Franz Liszt
- Commissioned by: the Hungarian Ministry of Culture
- Address: Liszt Ferenc tér, at Király Street, Budapest
- Decoration: frescoes, Zsolnay ceramics, Róth stained glass
History
Franz Liszt founded the academy in 1875, and it first worked from his own home before moving to a Neo-Renaissance building on Andrássy Avenue. By the early twentieth century the institution had outgrown that home, and a new building was commissioned on the initiative of the Hungarian Ministry of Culture.
The architects Flóris Korb and Kálmán Giergl raised the present building in 1907 at the corner of Király Street and the square that now bears Liszt’s name. The school was named after its founder in 1925, and the older premises later became the Ferenc Liszt Memorial and Research Centre.
The building has served ever since as a centre of music education and one of Budapest’s principal concert venues, restored in the early 2010s to its original condition.
What you see
A bronze statue of Liszt by Alajos Stróbl presides over the facade, set above the entrance. Inside, the foyers and the main concert hall are worked with frescoes, glazed Zsolnay ceramic and, originally, stained-glass windows by Miksa Róth, the leading Hungarian glass artist of the age.
Sculpture continues the musical theme indoors, with figures including Bartók and Chopin. The result is a total interior in which architecture, decorative art and music were conceived together — the Secession idea of the unified work of art applied to a concert hall.
Practical information
- The academy is a working concert hall; the interior is best seen on a guided tour or at a concert.
- The facade and statue can be seen from Liszt Ferenc tér at any time.
- The square around it is lined with cafés.
- Time needed: an hour for a tour; longer for a concert.
Getting there
The academy is on Liszt Ferenc tér, a short walk from the Oktogon stop on the M1 metro and on the Andrássy Avenue tram and bus routes.
Nearby
- Andrássy Avenue and the Hungarian State Opera.
- The Ferenc Liszt Memorial and Research Centre, the old academy.
- The cafés and restaurants of Liszt Ferenc square.
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN), “Franz Liszt Academy of Music”.
- Hungarian heritage monument register.
- Liszt Academy institutional information.
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