Hungarian Artists on Top of World Music Charts

Félix Lajkó

Two Hungarians have made it to the prestigious World Music Charts Europe (WMCE) in its latest April edition. The album by Meybahar is ranked fourth, while Félix Lajkó‘s album Gisl takes the seventh spot. Both albums were released by Fonó Records.

Each month, the WMCE publishes a chart based on votes from around 50 jurors across more than 20 countries, showcasing the best world music albums. The April chart is led by the Malian Trio da Kali with their album Bagola (label: One World Records), while second place goes to Ghanaian Santrofi with Making Moves (Outdoor Records), and the third spot is occupied by Colombian Los Piranas with Una oportunidad más de triunfar en la vida (Glitterbeat).

Meybahar’s self-titled album, ranked fourth, previously appeared on another prestigious world music chart, the Transglobal World Music Charts, last month.

The album features ten tracks, including both traditional Greek folk music arrangements and original compositions. The band’s unique sound is defined by the Greek santouri, violin, percussion instruments, and vocals in both Greek and Hungarian, sung in multiple voices.

One notable track from the Meybahar album is “Adama me to teri sou” (“Beside Your Beloved”), written by the band’s two members—Marilia Pilti (vocals and santouri) and Márton Kopcsik (violin and resonator viola)—along with Greek performer-songwriters Marta Mavroidi and Jorgosz Venturiss. In addition to Kopcsik, the band also includes Afrodité Radis (vocals), Zoltán Bordás (percussion), and János Gerzson (oud).

Félix Lajkó’s album GisL, ranked seventh on the WMCE April chart, is the ballet music composed by the violin virtuoso from Vojvodina for the successful Győr Ballet performance. Giselle is a groundbreaking 19th-century Romantic ballet masterpiece, and the ballet GisL was revitalized with choreography by László Velekei and music by Félix Lajkó at the Palace of Arts.

Via MTI; Featured picture: Wikipedia