Opening the season, the Modern Art Orchestra plays self-styled versions of its standard repertoire, continuing the series of providing cross-sections of its creative work instead of performing suites and larger pieces in their entirety. This is a big band which has built up its vast repertoire based on a corpus of originals and in the case of classical composers, cutting-edge adaptations, issuing almost two dozen CDs in the process. The term standard has of course long included to mean more than the hits of Broadway and Hollywood musicals, since it refers to compositions by the masters of modern jazz from Charlie Parker to Bob Mintzer, as well. For instance, MAO has for long played Gershwin’s The Man I Love, and the hit that shot out to world fame from an off-boulevard restaurant in Pest, Gloomy Sunday. The latter in their version also commemorates some of the many famous singers who have performed this song. The vocal parts will be performed by one of the favourite singers of the big band, the outstanding Nikoletta Szőke. Another hit, László Dés’ Nagy utazás, arranged for the band by Kristóf Bacsó, was made famous by the movie of the same title.