Versatile Hungarian group delights crowds

Bangor’s rivers have a rich history of logging, but “wood” never blended so beautifully with the waterways as on Saturday, when Tony Ballog & The Golden Strings played traditional Hungarian music on amber-hued string instruments at Two Rivers Stage. Two violins, a bass and the cymbalom, Hungary’s version of the hammer dulcimer, battled with a gusty afternoon wind. The music won the airwaves, however. Two Rivers is the festival’s smallest stage, but an overflow crowd of several hundred delighted in the slow, lyrical airs and the upbeat dance songs.

Versatility and spontaneity marked the flamboyant style of Ballog, a virtuoso violinist and friendly host. He led the orchestra through slow, sad tunes, and made nearly everyone want to stand and dance with his cheerful up-bowing in faster melodies. The group’s program ranged immensely and included variations on classical works such as Johannes Brahm’s rollicking “Hungarian Dance No. 5” as well as the more waltzlike “Hungarian Dance No. 6.” Even a classical scholar could appreciate the ornate embellishments expressed in these elaborate adaptations.

Although Ballog’s performing is a serious profession – he can trace his heritage back to 10 generations of string players, he’s classically trained and has worked as a symphony violinist – he ultimately is a crowd-pleaser. A closing rendition of the popular bluegrass melody “Orange Blossom Special” showed the soul of Hungary through an American lens. The crowd went wild.

In Hungary, csardas is the name for inns where villagers gathered to sing, dance and celebrate. The term has come to mean “dances of the pub.” On Saturday, the confluence of the Kenduskeag and Penobscot River was Bangor’s finest Hungarian pub, with Ballog and his Gypsy Orchestra as its celebratory stars.