Rare Backstage Photos of Queen’s 1986 Budapest Concert Debut at National Museum

Behind the scenes of Queen’s legendary 1986 concert in Budapest has been revealed in a chamber exhibition that opened on Tuesday, at the Hungarian National Museum (MNM) as part of its “Treasure of the Month” series. The exhibition “Queen Backstage Budapest 1986 – Photos by Egon Endrényi and Miklós Gáspár,” is based on previously unpublished photos taken by the late still photographer Egon Endrényi and his colleague during Queen’s week-long stay in the city. The exhibition features the negatives of the 1986 photos, enlargements of them, and Endrényi’s photographic equipment from that time.

Queen performed for the first time in the Eastern Bloc on July 27, 1986, making the concert a unique event not only in Hungary, but also in the surrounding socialist countries. Seventy thousand people saw the British band at the peak of their popularity at the Népstadion, and the film Queen – Live In Budapest, released in 1987, and digitally restored in 2012, was a worldwide success.

Backstage photos taken before the concert were added to the MNM Historical Photo Archive two years ago, and the original negatives are now on display to the public for the first time,

Gábor Zsigmond, Director General of the MNMKK Hungarian National Museum, said in his welcome speech.

The family of photographer Egon Endrényi, who passed away in 2014, donated his life’s work to the institution. One of the items in his estate, a photo report consisting of 455 black-and-white and color photographic negatives, provides insight into Queen’s stay in Budapest. The exhibition is also linked to the upcoming 40th anniversary of the 1986 concert.

The photographs show, for instance, singer Freddie Mercury tasting pálinka (traditional Hungarian fruit spirit), drummer Roger Taylor go-karting at the then newly opened Hungaroring, and guitarist Brian May hot-air ballooning and cycling.

Írisz Feitl, the curator of the exhibition, recalled that Egon Endrényi, winner of the Béla Balázs Award, became a still photographer at Mafilm (Hungarian film production company) in 1967, and his first job was on Pál Sándor’s film Bohóc a falon (Clown on the Wall). From 1973, he worked at the Filmgyár’s international studio, where he took press and publicity photos for foreign films shot in Hungary. He worked on such well-known films as the Sándor Mátyás (Mathias Sandorf ) series, Escape to Victory, and Jakob the Liar, starring Robin Williams.

“At the Queen concert in Budapest, Miklós Gáspár and Gábor Hegyi also worked as photographers alongside Endrényi. It was János Zsombolyai’s (director of Queen – Live In Budapest) idea that instead of conducting interviews for the production, they should organize programs tailored to the musicians’ interests.

The exhibition features a selection of photographs taken at these special events. With this chamber exhibition, we would like to draw attention to one of the foundations of analog photography, the historical value and role of negatives,”

emphasized Írisz Feitl.

She added that they hope the exhibition will serve as a preview of the publication commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Queen concert in Budapest.

In his opening speech, Márton Horn, director of the House of Music Hungary, discussed Queen’s significance in rock history. He recalled that the band rose to global stardom in 1975, with the song “Bohemian Rhapsody,” followed two years later by “We Are the Champions.” Mercury passed away in 1991, but the band has performed and released several albums in the decades since.

The 1986 Magic Tour was their last concert series, and the Budapest show was one of their last live performances. Organizer László Hegedüs played a huge role in putting together the Népstadion concert, managing to get Queen to perform for half their usual fee in exchange for a concert film that was shot by seventeen cameras under the supervision of cinematographer Elemér Ragályi, and featured a 53-meter stage,”

said the director. He mentioned that the House of Music Hungary is working on a Freddie Mercury exhibition, for which they would like to use material from the current exhibition.

Endrényi’s family members and stand photographer Miklós Gáspár were present at Tuesday’s opening. The tour was led by Bence Csatári, senior research fellow at the Committee of National Remembrance. The chamber exhibition “Queen Backstage Budapest 1986 – Photos by Egon Endrényi and Miklós Gáspár” will be on display in the Széchényi Hall of the Hungarian National Museum until September 3.

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Purger Tamás