The programme of the arts festival is now complete, with world stars, captivating performances and unmissable collaborations offered to the lovers of culture until the middle of May. There will again be exceptional events across the country, with Győr, Pécs and Miskolc joining in the festivities of the Bartók Spring.

The fifth Bartók Spring International Arts Weeks will start on 4 April with the Hungarian debut concert of the Münchner Philharmoniker. Hungarians will particularly be pleased to hear Barnabás Kelemen as the soloist of the evening, when the symphonic orchestra from Munich performs works by Bartók, Mendelssohn and Schumann. Moments like these will abound this spring, bringing joy to lovers of classical music: Diana Damrau and Jonas Kaufmann give a joint lied recital, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment performs Bach’s grand oratorio, the St Matthew Passion in the Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy, and the Kammerorchester Basel will take to the stage with one of today’s most talented Hungarian violinists, Júlia Pusker.

Fans of jazz, world and popular music will also be pampered. Two different worlds and musical styles will be fused at the concert of Magdi Rúzsa and János Balázs, with the complexity of classical music and the freedom of pop music opening up new paths and emotions. The House of Music Hungary will ring with the exotic sounds of one of the most noteworthy performers of alternative jazz, the Grammy Award-winning Arooj Aftab. With the Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis brings some of the best contemporary soloists and ensemble players to Müpa Budapest, where they will be joined by the trumpeter Balázs Szalóky. Jan Garbarek, one of Europe’s most influential jazz saxophonists, comes to the Bartók Spring with Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu to dazzle audiences with their inimitable stage presence.

Offering concerts and collaborations, as well as a professional conference, the tenth Budapest Ritmo awaits those who love performers mixing ancient traditions and modern music, and for the first time, Budapest Ritmo Film Days will be a separate event on 4–5 April. On the Akvárium Spring Terrace, international and local performers of pop music will showcase the intimate world of singer-songwriters.

There will be a wealth of productions including dance performances and those that combine multiple art forms. With their grandiose dance production, De Scheherezade, the María Pagés Compañia evokes the fates of twelve women in as many scenes. The world-famous Seville director and dancer and her artists guarantee a truly unique experience with an exciting mix of traditional flamenco and Moroccan music. Several movements from Bartók’s Mikrokosmos come to life in the landscape of the Mezőség, in a joint production that features the dancers of the Corvinus Közgáz Dance Ensemble, the actors of Forte Company and students of the Academy of Drama and Film. The Hungarian State Folk Ensemble and the Ballet Company of Győr have been exploring Bartók’s influence on the culture of distant regions for three years. The multi-art vision of Pure Source now reveals the fascinating and complex relationship between folk dance and the composed music of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as 20th-century modernists’ experience of folk music, through the work of Bach and the collections of Bartók. Hommage à Jeszenszky is a celebration of the dancer, Endre Jeszenszky, whose figure this theatrical gala seeks to evoke through personal reminiscences and various encounters between literature, music, circus, classical and modern dance.

Visual arts and literature cannot be missing from the programme of the festival. With its exhibition, The Art of Living, the Hungarian National Gallery explores the development of the art of the poster with works by Gustav Klimt and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, among others, while the over 200 objects on view outline Art Nouveau material culture. The spring Margó Literary Festival will once again welcome book lovers with the best-known names of the Hungarian literary scene, with János Áfra, Ádám Nádasdy and Zsuzsa Selyem introducing their latest books.

Between 12 April and 17 May, Győr, Pécs and Miskolc will join the Bartók Spring with special concerts and performances, as well as unconventional public events. After Budapest, the world-famous BANDALOOP will now conquer the iconic buildings of Miskolc and Pécs with their unique perspectives and choreographies, giving new meaning to dance and our public spaces. Many have given sound to The General, the epoch-making silent film. It will now be screened with music by Apor Szűts, which will be performed live by the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pannon Philharmonic and the Miskolc Symphony Orchestra, with Róbert Farkas conducting at all three concerts. In all three cities, Ritmo PIKNIK offers creative activities for children and families, along with pop-up concerts of world and folk music.

Wherever they rose in the world, Olivier Grossetête’s giant cardboard buildings never failed to amaze people. This spring, one of the best-known figures of public and community art will visit Győr, in addition to Budapest, where he will rebuild the Fire Tower, which was demolished in 1895. In a tribute to Bizet’s Carmen, which had its premiere 150 years ago, the Ballet Hispánico will perform their Carmen.maquia at the Miskolc National Theatre. Gustavo Ramírez Sansano’s choreography retells the tragic love story with exceptional intensity. And in Pécs at the Kodály Centre, the Ballet Company of Győr will present their take on Giselle, a masterpiece of 19th-century ballet; the mystical story of GisL is accompanied by the original music of Félix Lajkó.