György and Márta Kurtág

Intense, mysterious, dark, otherworldly and innig; these are the words that come to my mind when I think of György Kurtág’s music. He is inspirational and fiercely honest but there is also a deep love that glows through his music. This may be an expression of his extraordinary relationship with his wife, Márta. Anybody who has heard the Kurtágs play, four hands, would know what that means. We know György Kurtág the great composer but with him always is Márta the wonderful pianist. They live music together. We have all been so lucky to have known them and their music, me especially.

Mitsuko Uchida

The inaugural Franco Buitoni Award was given to György and Márta Kurtág, in recognition of their distinguished contribution to the world of music. Nominated by Mitsuko Uchida, founding BBT Trustee and long-time friend of Ilaria and Franco, she and Ilaria travelled to Budapest to present the award at the Budapest Music Centre on 19 February 2017, the day of the Kurtágs’ 70th wedding anniversary and György’s 91st birthday.

Ilaria Borletti Buitoni, Márta Kurtág, Mitsuko Uchida and György Kurtág
Photo © BMC / Bálint Hrotkó

My husband, Franco, passed away last August. He and I founded BBT in 2002 to help talented young musicians develop their careers. From the very beginning we were pleased to have the artistic guidance and ideas of our founding trustee, Mitsuko Uchida, who was also a dear friend to Franco. I wanted to honour my husband’s lifetime of loving and supporting music with this special award and there seemed no better person to nominate a worthy recipient than Mitsuko.

Ilaria Borletti Buitoni

Read the press release here

György and Márta Kurtág
Photo Marco Borggreve

Márta Kurtág (1 October 1927 − 17 October 2019)

We were saddened to hear of the death of Márta Kurtág in October. Along with her husband György, Márta was the recipient of the first Franco Buitoni Award in 2017.