Palace of Arts director decorated with Legion of Honour

Csaba Káel, managing director of the Budapest Palace of Arts (Müpa), has received the French Legion of Honour for his work to develop Hungarian-French cultural relations and his achievements as a film and theatre director and institution manager in the field of cultural diplomacy, Müpa said in a statement on Friday.

French Ambassador to Hungary Eric Fournier decorated Káel Knight of the Legion of Honour at a reception ceremony on Thursday, the statement said.

Fournier praised Káel’s efforts to advance French-Hungarian cultural diplomatic ties as Mupa’s managing director and chairman of the operative body organising the Budapest Spring Festival.

The ambassador said

Káel had made possible the highly successful debuts in Hungary of French artists like Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, the Orchestre des Champs-Elysees, the Orchestre National d’Ile-de-France, Louis Langree, Natalie Dessay and Philippe Jaroussky.

As the home page says, “Müpa Budapest is one of Hungary’s best known cultural brands and one of its most modern cultural institutions. It brings together the many and varied disciplines of the arts in unique fashion by providing a home for classical, contemporary, popular and world music, not to mention jazz and opera, as well as contemporary circus, dance, literature and film.