Felix Lajko

Unconventional musician burns through strings. Photo © Erika Simon, ontheglobe.com.

Passionate violinist woos audiences at Budapest music academy

(Budapest) When the hallowed concert hall of Budapest’s Franz Liszt Music Academy was darkened by a power failure during a concert this month, the bare-footed, unshaven, yet passionate and much-loved virtuoso Felix Lajko and his band played on without missing a beat. In fact, even the band didn’t take much notice of the sudden darkness, continuing to play its unique mixture of folk, jazz, and gypsy sounds.

It was not that unexpected, however, coming from the free spirited, spontaneous and sometimes controversial soul musician.

Lajko’s works, which live outside of the classical music cannon of the once stringent halls of the Franz Liszt Academy, only a decade ago would hardly have been performable in the academy halls.

Too entranced to notice
His eyes closed as he improvised, intensely searching for notes, Lajko was probably too entranced to even notice as a generator finally kicked in to provide a soft light to at least two chandeliers.

The incident demonstrated that Lajko’s music is less about the notes of a score than about improvisation that sings from the soul. Judging from the reaction of the audience, though, maybe Lajko’s music was actually meant to be played in the dark.

« He is a kind of a free spirit in this strange world, » internationally acclaimed Hungarian film-maker Miklos Jancso said. He , co-directed a film on Lajko called « Play Felix, Play ». « And through his self-expression he transmits feelings as if he was living in another sphere. »

„Lajko devotes his whole being to what he does, probably instinctively, » he added.

Jancso is himself a somewhat of an eccentric character, also known to have worked with such charged creative figures as Federico Fellini. His portrait film presents an image of Lajko as a rather tormented figure who lives somewhere on the outer limits of normalcy, even approaching madness.

Anguished close-ups of his intense facial expressions are juxtaposed with images of images of early flight and high-speed car racing.

Largely self-taught, at an early age Felix Lajko veered from the road of the music academy. He was kicked out of a music school at the age of 16, but that didn’t stop him from using his innate abilities of a performer.

A cult following
Today Lajko enjoys what is almost a cult following, leaving sold-out audiences awe-struck wherever he plays. He can play his violin bringing out notes like a gentle caress just as easily as he burns others, leaving his bow riddled its hairs strewn about.

And Lajko likes change and projects mixing disciplines with each new gig. At 27 years of age, he has collaborated with a diverse crew that has included Japanese Butoh dancers, an alternative French rock band, Noir Desir, as well as classically trained violinists.

But Lajko’s musical journey begins, and after touring intervals, always ends in the small Serbian city of Subotica. It is here where, alone, in an abandoned mansion and in the surrounding forests where Lajko practices.

Having performed throughout Europe, it is still in his native Subotica, near to his beloved mother, where he always returns.

« The world of a star really doesn’t interest him, » says Laszlo Horvath, a longtime friend, « For him it is the forests, the little hills, and his little home. That is his world where he feels most comfortable. But he will tell you that to feel good he needs money, and that is when he performs. »

This said, however, playing is what counts for Lajko. During the NATO bombing campaign against Serbia, a time when Serbians who could were lining up at the Hungarian border fleeing the devastation of NATOs might, the ethnic Hungarian Lajko made his way back to his native city in Serbia.

Not only did he on to play in Serbia, but he went on tour to audience acclaim, throughout the region with the famed Boban Markovics gypsy orchestra.

Most prestigious international stages
„There is an incredible energy in the people, and he gives his energy to the audience, but also receives it from them, » continued Horvath, also from Subotica, „There is a great need for the kind of music that he plays in Serbia, and there is also a kind of harmony between the music and the audience. »

And now Lajko’s journey is taking him to some of the most prestigious international stages. In the coming weeks, Lajko is set to play at a special appearance at the event that is the brainchild of Germanys noted choreographer Pina Bausch at the Wuppertal Festival (October 19), followed by another important performance at Paris’ Theatre de la Ville (27 October).

Lajko, who can be brash or even lewd, has nevertheless not forgotten a basic sense of honesty to himself and most importantly, to his music.

« I am not a normal person, » admitted Felix Lajko from a smoke-filled hotel room before a Budapest performance, « and the people that come to my concerts are probably not really that interested in seeing a normal person. »