Félix Lajkó was born in Bačka Topola (Hungarian: Topolya, Serbian Cyrillic: Бачка Топола), a town in the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Voivodina region of present-day Serbia on 17 December 1974 (the same day Beethoven was born a little more than two hundred years before). Despite loving music dearly, no member of his ethnic Hungarian family had
Félix Lajkó was born in Bačka Topola (Hungarian: Topolya, Serbian Cyrillic: Бачка Топола), a town in the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Voivodina region of present-day Serbia on 17 December 1974 (the same day Beethoven was born a little more than two hundred years before). Despite loving music dearly, no member of his ethnic Hungarian family had chosen music a profession before. Having started out with playing the zither, Lajkó quit the musical high school of Subotica at sophomore grade to go to Budapest with a borrowed violin and become a member of the Dresch Quartet. He has been commuting between Budapest, Hungary and Subotica, Serbia ever since, representing and culturally connecting Hungary and his native Voivodina region.
“My music is essentially based on the sensitivity and variability of my instrument. I do not play any so-called new-style music; I just have my way in improvising and composing. I do not differentiate between musical styles and trends; I play folk, classical, rock, blues, jazz, and improvised tunes alike.”
Lajkó has played together with a large number of well-known bands and musicians. He has had several concerts with Alexander Balanescu and Boban Marković’s brass gipsy band.
His violin music captivated musically sensitive audiences in Tokyo, Amsterdam, Berlin, Bratislava, Prague, Budapest, Brașov, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Ljubljana, Frankfurt, Lyon, Bordeaux, Venice, Verona, Edinburgh, London, Tallinn, Vienna, and New York.
Often referred to as the Devil’s Violinist, the Paganini of Voivodina, or a child prodigy, once he is on stage with an instrument – be it the violin or the zither – Lajkó is capable of doing anything, of guarding his audience to a world that opens up only to those born with a special talent. Félix Lajkó handles music rather impulsively. There is no need to define the style or genre of his music, since it is exactly about the opposite: transgressing styles, accepting the inexplicable.
In 2012, he was picked from 850 applicants to be one of the 32 performers to play at that year’s WOMEX (World Music Expo) in Thessaloniki, and his concert was a great success.
LAJKÓ Félix – violin, zither, BRASNYÓ Antal – viola, KURINA Ferenc – double bass, KURINA Mihály – hammered dulcimer
Félix Lajkó released his first solo album in 1997. Known as “Kartonos” / “The Cardboard Album” for its unique cover, it features a selection of six tracks often referred to as the best of Félix Lajkó. Here he plays together with the members of his first band, the Kurina brothers from Subotica. Recorded at a studio in Subotica with musicians greatly tuned to each other, these tracks imply that Félix Lajkó was feeling at home here. The first few notes sound like those of a traditional Hungarian village band, yet soon we are to realize that this is not the case. „I’m the man from el Cavillo”, Lajkó sings repeatedly in the beginning, “el Cavillo” standing for the village of Kavilo (Hungarian: Kavilló, Serbian Cyrillic: Кавило), a part of Bačka Topola municipality. “It has no more than twelve houses and one in three is an inn”. Then he does not speak again until the very last seconds of the final track: “Hello, Félix Lajkó speaking” he whispers into the microphone, putting his bow down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7rg0w_i8y4
