BAR-EVENING with Norbert Gazsi

August 2, Saturday, 2025, 7:00–9:00 PM

Nostalgic Musical Evening with Norbert Gazsi

One piano, one pianist, and a host of beloved or long-forgotten hits brought to life in a concert evoking the charm of the “Happy Peaceful Times.” In the 1920s and ’30s, during the golden age of barroom piano music, everyone had a favorite song by Rezső Seress or Jenő Horváth. Anyone who was anyone spent time in bars, artists lived in cafés, creating their works to the accompaniment of live music drifting through the background.

Today, this genre is rarely heard, which makes this concert by Norbert Gazsi, second prize winner of the National Bar Pianist Competition held as part of the Cziffra Festival, all the more special. His broad repertoire includes film scores, light classical music, bar music, pop songs, operetta excerpts, jazz, and timeless evergreen hits. The program, combined with Gazsi’s virtuoso performance style, promises a carefree and uplifting experience for the audience.

The Cziffra Festival, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year under the artistic direction of János Balázs, Kossuth and Liszt Ferenc Prize-winning pianist, has been devoted from the beginning to preserving the memory of world-renowned pianist György Cziffra. The festival has presented Cziffra’s richly diverse life and artistic journey to the public through books, portrait films, stage productions, concerts, professional competitions, and support for young talents.

György Cziffra was not only a celebrated pianist on the world’s most prestigious classical music stages and a peerless interpreter of works by Liszt and Rachmaninoff, but also a true improviser and virtuoso of his instrument in the noblest sense of the word. For years, he played in bars and nightclubs—primarily out of financial necessity—yet as he later recalled, he did so with great joy and legendary technique.

With this exceptional and unique musical evening, the Cziffra Festival pays tribute to the bar pianist period of the artist’s life—a formative chapter that was crucial in shaping his later international career.

The event is organized in collaboration between the Cziffra Festival and the Csigó Malom Cultural and Arts Center Foundation.

Supporters: Prime Minister’s Office, Bethlen Gábor Fund Management, Ministry of Culture and Innovation.

Salon Program: Meet the artist, enjoy informal conversations accompanied by a wine tasting.

Ticket: 4.500 HUF

Booking Tickets

Norbert Béla Gazsi was born in 1992 in Budapest. He began his musical studies at the Nap Street Music School, then earned his qualifications at the Jazz Department of the Bartók Béla Secondary School of Music. He has performed both in Hungary and abroad, and is a regular pianist in popular cafés, restaurants, and bars.

His broad repertoire includes film music, light classical pieces, bar music, pop songs, operetta excerpts, jazz, evergreen hits, as well as international songs in Italian, French, German, English, Spanish, Argentinian, and Brazilian styles.

In 2024, he was awarded 2nd place at the György Cziffra Bar Pianist Competition.

Source: cziffrafesztival.hu