Balázs Máté
The cellist Balázs Máté (born 1965 in Budapest) is leader of „AURA MUSICALE”. He studied at the B.Bartók Conservatory and the F.Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. From 1986-92 he was a member of the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra. Post-graduate Baroque cello studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (NL) with Jaap ter Linden, chamber music lessons with Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Mozarteum Salzburg.
Founding member of Concerto Armonico Budapest, Trio Cristofori and The Rare Fuits Council. Solo cellist in world famous Baroque orchestras: 1991- Le Concert des Nations (J.Savall), 1994- Wiener Akademie (M.Haselböck), 1996-2002 Les Musiciens du Louvre (M.Minkowski), 2003-2013 Neue Hofkapelle München (Chr.Hammer) etc. He also performs regularly with other ensembles: Concentus Musicus Wien (N.Harnoncourt), Cappella Mediterranea (L.Garcia-Alarcón), Le Concert de la Loge (J.Chauvin), recreation Graz, Café Zimmermann, Freitagsakademie Bern etc. He founded in 1995 his own early music ensemble Aura musicale and in 2002 (with László Paulik, Erzsébet Rácz and Éva Posvanecz) the Quartetto Luigi Tomasini. His debut as a soloist at the Musikverein in Vienna was in October 2000: he performed in the same concert (!) the cello concerto in C-major and the Sinfonia concertante in B-flat major by J.Haydn conducted by Chr. Hogwood. He gave many successful concerts all over Europe, in Brasil, Argentina, Columbia and Japan. Balázs Máté is a well known and highly regarded artist of the Baroque cello, the violoncello piccolo and the Bass violin. The highlights of his career as leader of “Aura Musicale” were a tour to the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and concerts at the “Bach Marathon” Budapest. His first appearances as an opera conductor were the highly acclaimed stage performances of “Orontea” by A. Cesti in Budapest.
He does important research on undeservedly forgotten composers and their works. He is cello tutor of the Austrian Baroque Academy, the Miszla Baroque and the European Union Baroque Orchestra. From 2010 to 2012 he was professor for Baroque cello of the ”F. Mendelssohn Bartholdy” Academy of Music Leipzig. He held several successful masterclasses a.o. at the UCLA (USA), at the Universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch (South Africa), Buenos Aires and Córdoba (Argentina), Music Academy Budapest, as well as at Ringve (Trondheim, Norway). Since 2024 he is the Baroque cello Professor of the Bruckneruniversität Linz.
In 2010 Balázs Máté was given the Liszt Award – the Hungarian state award for musical merits and contributions.
His large discography contains the complete set of the Cello Suites by JS Bach, the Cello Concertos by CPE Bach and GB Cirri, the Cello Sonatas Op. 1 by A Kraft, S Lanzetti etc.
Discography of Balázs Máté:
A. Vivaldi (1678-1741): Concertos (Vanguard Classic)
M. G. Monn ( 1717-1750): Cello Concerto (Virgin)
C. Ph. E. Bach (1714-1788): Complete Cello Concertos (Hungaroton)
J. S. Bach (1685-1750): The Six Suites for Solo Cello (Hungaroton)
G. B. Cirri(1724-1808): 6 Cello Concertos, Op.14 (Hungaroton)
E. Siprutini (1730?-1790?): 6 Cello Sonatas, Op.7 (Hungaroton)
A. Kraft (1752-1820): 3 Cello Sonatas, Op.1
Gran Duo for 2 Cellos, Op.5 (Hungaroton)
S. Lanzetti (cca. 1710-1780): Six Solos after an Easy & Elegant Taste (Hungaroton)
F. Danzi (1763-1826): Four Duos for Viola & Cello (Hungaroton)
(May 2025)