Ildikó Szabó

Ildikó Szabó – cellistIldikó-Szabó-HP

    In 2007, János Starker described her then 14 years-old compatriot, as “an exceptionally gifted young cellist” with the potential for an international career. Since then, Ildikó Szabó has lived up to this claim, the Hungarian cellist has won prizes at 16 international competitions, including the Pablo Casals Cello Competition in 2014 at which she won a total of eight prizes.

    “A true artist who enjoys being on stage and manages to perform to the absolute best of her capabilities in front of an audience” says Iván Fischer with whom she has collaborated with on multiple occasions as a soloist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. She has also appeared with orchestras including Concerto Budapest, the Hungarian Radio Orchestra, the Magdeburgische Philharmonie, the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and performed with conductors including Michael Sanderling, Luciano di Martino, Zsolt Hamar, and Leo McFall.

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    Ildikó Szabó is a regular guest at prestigious festivals such as the Rheingau Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, OCM Prussia Cove, BBC at Hay, Verbier Festival, Piatigorsky Cello Festival, IBF Gran Canaria, and the Krzyżowa Music. She has also performed in recital and chamber music at the Mariinski-Theater, Elbphilharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Walt Disney Hall, as well as the Liszt Academy and the Palace of Arts Budapest. As a chamber musician, she has cooperated with artists such as Arnold Steinhardt, Ferenc Rados, Kirill Gerstein, Tabea Zimmermann, and Matthias Schorn.

    With a particular passion for Hungarian and Transylvanian music – Ildikó Szabó has developed personal relationships with György Kurtág and Péter Eötvös. This is reflected in her discography, her solo album “Heritage” (2020), nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award features world premiere recordings of works by György Kurtág and Csaba Szabó. Her mentor Alfred Brendel described the recording as “substantial interpretations by a very special young cellist” and suggested she recorded the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven which was released in March 2023 with her long-time chamber music partner, pianist István Lajkó.

    Born in a family of great musical traditions, at the age of 11, Ildikó Szabó was admitted at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, where she studied with László Mező, while attending regular master classes with János Starker. In 2011, she moved to Berlin to study with Jens Peter Maintz at the Berlin University of the Arts, and in 2018 continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik “Franz Liszt” Weimar with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. Ildikó Szabó is an Alumna of Kronberg Academy in Germany and a Laureate of the Gautier Capucon’s “Classe d’Excellence” in Paris. Since September 2023, she is Associate Professor at the University of Music Franz Liszt in Weimar and the Julius Stern Institute-UDK, in Berlin.
    Ildikó is a Larsen Strings artist and plays an Antonio Sgarbi cello loaned to her by the German Fund for Musical Instruments.

    www.ildikoszabo.com

Contact:
Aude-Marie Auphan (Director)
Nicolas Papageorgiou (Director)

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Videos

Shostakovich: Cello Concerto no.2
MAV Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Boico – May 2021
Rózsa: Cello Concerto
Concerto Budapest, Domonkos Héja – April 2019
‘Heritage’ Album Promotional video
September 2020
Popper: Elfentanz, op.39
with István Lajkó (piano) – March 2019
Piazzolla: Invierno Porteño (arr. Flowers/Szabó)
with Jesse Flowers, guitar (July 2022)
de Falla: Jota (arr. Flowers/Szabó)
with Jesse Flowers, guitar (July 2022)


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Repertoire

Please contact us for a full list of 21st Century repertoire

Concerto
  • Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel

    • Concerto in A major

  • Beethoven

    • Triple Concerto

  • Boccherini

    • Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in B-flat-major (arr. Grützmacher)

  • Dazzi, Gualtiero

    • Boulevard de la Dordogne

  • Dvořák

    • Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in b-minor
    Rondo
    Silent Woods

  • Elgar

    • Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in e-minor

  • Haydn

    • Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in C-major
    Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in D-major

  • Klengel, J.

    • Double Concerto for Two Cellos in e-minor

  • Lalo

    • Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in d-minor

  • Lalo

    • Cello Concerto n d-minor

  • Moór, E.

    • Concerto for Two Cellos and Orchestra in D-major

  • Prokofiev

    • Sinfonia Concertante

  • Rózsa

    • Cello Concerto

  • Saint-Saëns

    • Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in a-minor

  • Schumann

    • Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in a-minor

  • Shostakovich

    • Concerto No. 1 in E-flat-major
    Concerto No. 2

  • Tchaikovsky

    • Variations on a Rococo Theme
    Pezzo Capriccioso
    Andante Cantabile
    Nocturne

  • Vajda, János

    • Cello Concerto

  • Vivaldi

    • Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in b-minor
    Double Concerto for Two Cellos in g-minor

    Solo Cello
  • Bach, Johann Sebastian:

    • Six Solo Suites

  • Bottermund-Starker:

    • Variations on a theme of Paganini

  • Cassado:

    • Solo Suite

  • Dutilleux:

    • Trois Strophes sur le Nom de Sacher

  • Eötvös, Péter:

    • Two poems to Polly for a speaking cellist

  • Gabrielli, Domenico:

    • Ricercar No. 7

  • Jost, Christian:

    • lautlos II

  • Kodály:

    • Solo Sonata

  • Kukal, Ondřej:

    • Violoncelliana – 2. Rhapsody for solo cello

  • Kurtág, György:

    • Az Hit
    Pilinszky: Gérard de Nerval
    Shadows
    Hommage á Cage
    The Hilary Jig

  • Ligeti:

    • Sonata for cello solo

  • Lischka, Rainer:

    • Suite for Violoncello Solo

  • Paganini:

    • Capriccio No. 13 „Devil’s Laughter“

  • Papandopulo, Boris:

    • Rhapsody for cello solo

  • Penderecki:

    • Preludio from the Suite for solo cello

  • Resch, Gerald:

    • Al fresco

  • Rózsa, Miklós:

    • Toccata capricciosa

  • Saariaho, Kaija:

    • Petals for solo cello with electronics

  • Smolka, Martin:

    • Like Ella

  • Szabó, Csaba:

    • Suite for solo cello and cowbells

  • Williams, Lenny:

    • Scherzo

  • Ysaye:

    • Solo Sonata

    Cello and Piano
  • Bach, Johann Sebastian:

    • Air from Suite No. 3 for orchestra

  • Bartók:

    • Rhapsody No. 1
    Rumanian Folk Dances

  • Beethoven:

    • Sonata No. 1 in F-major
    Sonata No. 2 in g-minor
    Sonata No. 3 in A-major
    Sonata No. 4 in C-major
    Sonata No. 5 in D-major
    12 Variations on “See the conqu’ring hero comes” from Händel’s Judas Maccabaeus
    12 Variations on „Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen“ from Mozart’s Magic Flute
    7 Variations on „Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen“ from Mozart’s Magic Flute

  • Boccherini:

    • Sonata in c-minor G.2
    Sonata in A-major G.4
    Sonata „L’Imperatrice“

  • Brahms:

    • Sonata in e-minor
    Sonata in F-major

  • Britten:

    • Sonata in C

  • Casals:

    • El cant dels ocells

  • Cassado:

    • Dance of the green devil
    Requiebros

  • Chopin:

    • Introduction et polonaise brillante
    Sonata in g-minor

  • Couperin:

    • Pièces en concert

  • Davidov:

    • At the Fountain

  • Debussy:

    • Beau soir (for guitar and cello)
    Sonata in d-minor

  • De Falla:

    • Suite populaire espagnole

  • Dvořák:

    • Rondo
    Waldesruhe (Silent Woods/Klid)

  • Elgar:

    • Salut d’Amour

  • Fauré:

    • Après un rêve
    Elégie

  • Franck:

    • Sonata in A-major

  • Francoeur:

    • Sonata in E-major

  • Goldmark, Karl:

    • Sonata in F-major

  • Grieg:

    • Sonata in a-minor

  • Halphen, Fernand:

    • Romance

  • Kodály:

    • Adagio
    Romance lirique

  • Martinu:

    • Variations on a Theme of Rossini

  • Mendelssohn:

    • Sonata in B flat major
    Sonata in D-major

  • Pejacevic, Dora:

    • Sonata in e-minor

  • Piazzolla:

    • Le Grand Tango
    Invierno Porteño (for guitar and cello)

  • Poulenc:

    • Sonata

  • Popper:

    • Gavotte in d-minor
    Mazurka
    Vito
    Gnomentanz
    Gavotte in D-major
    Dance of the Elves (Elfentanz)
    Spinning Song
    Menuetto
    Tarantelle
    Russische Fantasie

  • Prokofiev:

    • Sonata in C-major

  • Rachmaninov:

    • Vocalise

  • Rimsky-Koraskov:

    • The Flight of the Bumblebee

  • Rostropovich:

    • Humoresque

  • Saint-Saëns:

    • The Swan from Carnival of the Animals

  • Schubert:

    • „Arpeggione Sonata“ in a-minor
    Die Nacht
    Der Leiermann (for guitar and cello)

  • Schumann:

    • Adagio und Allegro
    Fünf Stücke im Volkston
    Phantasie-Stücke
    Träumerei

  • Shostakovich:

    • Sonata in d-minor

  • Strauss:

    • Sonata in F-major

  • Stravinsky:

    • Italian Suite

  • Szabó, Csaba:

    • Sonatina „Looking back“ in Do

  • Tchaikovksy:

    • Andante cantabile
    Nocturne
    Pezzo capriccioso
    Valse sentimentale

  • Valentini:

    • Sonata in E-major

  • Van Parys, Annelies:

    • Chacun(e) sa chaconne

  • Villa-Lobos:

    • Aria, from Bachianas Brasileiras (for guitar and cello)

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