Background
Born in 1965 into the legendary family of Romani violinists descended from János Bihari, ‘King of Gypsy Violinists’, Lakatos was introduced to music as a child and at the age of nine he made his public debut as first violin in a Romani band.
Career
He is renowned for his mix of classical music with Hungarian Romani music and jazz themes. Between 1986 and 1996, he and his ensemble were the house band at a Brussels restaurant, where he attracted the attention of Sir Yehudi Menuhin, passing in search of a meal after performing at the nearby Bozar concert hall. At the end of the set, Menuhin asked him to perform a Liszt piece from the score, and heard it played in a very authentic but very different style from the habitual classical interpretation, and was astonished to hear that the Lakatos family, who taught the young Liszt, had preserved the tradition.
He therefore promoted Lakatos as a historically informed performer adding a valuable new insight into the style which inspired Liszt, Brahms and their musical descent.
In March 2004, Lakatos appeared to great acclaim with the London Symphony Orchestra in the orchestra’s ‘Genius of the Violin’ festival alongside Maxim Vengerov. Louisiana Passion live at Sydney Opera House.