I spent two weeks in Hungary the last two weeks of September and one of the highlights was a fantastic concert at the Liszt Academy. On Friday, September 25, I had a late lunch at Menza (excellent) and walked to the Academy to see if there were any tours that weekend. While there were no tours, the woman at the box office told me there was a Concerto Budapest Orchestra Concert that night in the Great Hall and there were plenty of seats available, so I bought a good balcony ticket for 8700 HUF ($28).
The Orchestra, which is renowned and tours internationally, did a program of Bela Bartok and Richard Strauss. The program lasted about 2.5 hours, with one intermission. One segment included a 100 person choir. It was spectacular to listen to such beautiful music in the gorgeous hall. The Orchestra frequently plays different programs at the Academy; I notice there are many dates scheduled later this fall. I highly recommend anyone visiting Budapest to attend a Concerto Budapest concert at the Academy.
By the way, in Budapest I stayed at the Hotel Oktogon, on Andrassy a short walk from the Academy. A beautiful hotel with an excellent location, comfortable, clean and quiet room, good breakfast, and nice and helpful employees.