These two memorable dates were the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth and the 150th anniversary of Freud's birth, and although the EU's political agenda was not particularly in need of important themes, the commemorations of Mozart and Freud made it possible to promote the period of the EU presidency to a wider public and at last something could be said about Austria all over the world that deviated from the usual clichés.

Moreover, the commemorations finally obscured the sore memory of the EU embargo imposed on Austria because of its Freedom Party's participation in the formation of the Schüssel government in 2000. Mozart, as the standard-bearer of enlightenment and the first European star who successfully conveyed to the world that even a single motif of his Magic Flute can encapsulate European culture in a way that everyone can identify with, across Europe. Freud's legacy highlighted the importance of Central Europe as the cradle of 20^th-century Modernity, rendering it palpably easy to understand that the Monarchy was far more than the sentiments evoked by the annual Viennese New Year concerts.  

Even though Hungary's EU presidency is kicked off amidst negative media attention, what is beyond doubt is that we have a lot to offer to the friends of culture. This year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Franz Liszt, the artist whose image primarily resides in the public consciousness as a virtuoso pianist with flowing hair. However, the personality of this musician from the village of Raiding (in Hungarian: Doborján) is far more varied than this. The various stages of his long life and the course of his spiritual development paint an exciting panorama of a period in which the political map of today's Europe began to be defined, new trends emerged starting from the period of social revolutions and people's attitude to traditional values radically changed as a result of a faster pace of life.

By definition, such a prominent anniversary necessitates a degree of simplification in regard to some aspects of Liszt's oeuvre. For example, it must be seen that knowledge of a language is not a condition for national commitment, or that a cosmopolitan artist can have Hungarian identity and at the same time feel at home in salons anywhere in Europe and be an intellectual partner to Berlioz, Heine and Delacroix - all these are important elements facilitating a meaningful discourse about what constitutes a European identity. Similarly important is the fact that the aging Liszt reconciled to his church at the end of his life and was able to render the scepticism of modern man in music while also declaring his faith and standing by traditional values. 

When Mihály Vörösmarty met Franz Liszt he ‘only' had the chance to admire a virtuoso pianist. However, the extent to which the depths of Liszt's art affected Vörösmarty transpired in his poem addressed to the "Notorious Musician" and "The Ever-faithful Relative" published in the 3 January issue of Athenaeum in 1841. The question raised by the poet "Have you a cadence for the ailing land to set to strings that play in the marrow?" is worth raising again and again, 170 years later here at home.