Kodály50+

With a history stretching back more than a century and a half, the Budapest Philharmonic is Hungary's oldest functioning orchestra. Its first concert on 20 November 1853 was conducted by Ferenc Erkel. The orchestra can boast the world premieres of more than a hundred works, including such curiosities as the original 1889 premiere of Mahler's Symphony No. 1.

As in previous years, the aim of the ensemble in the 2016/17 season is nothing less than to retain its rank among the top concert orchestras in Hungary, capitalising on the special and unique musical skills gained from performing opera on a daily basis.

If in 19th century Hungary it was Ferenc Deák who deserved to be called by the epitheton ornans the “wise man of the nation”, then the same title should be given to Zoltán Kodály in the 20th century. His academic qualifications and the fact that he worked as a composer writing music only reveals a small fraction about this man who possessed wisdom on a biblical scale from a very young age. In addition to his knowledge of literature and languages, his academic devotion
to folk music, his professorship at the Academy of Music and his desire to familiarise the entire Hungarian nation and especially the young with the world of music – which would have been a complete life's work just by itself – his activity in public life must be mentioned too: he was the president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Regardless of which regime was in power, he protected the downtrodden and supported the talented, and when it was necessary, he stood up against tyranny, trusting in the protective shield of the international renown he had gained through several decades of exhibiting human greatness. On the 50th anniversary of his death, the morning will begin at the Opera House where Kodály and his family survived the siege of Budapest in the winter of 1944/45. We will be remembering at the same place where his
Missa brevis was premiered, conducted by himself: the ground floor cloakroom.

Program:

Kodály: Dances of Galánta
Kodály: Two Songs
Kodály: Te Deum

Featuring: Krisztián Cser, Beatrix Fodor, Krisztina Simon, Szabolcs Brickner, the Hungarian State Opera Chorus (chorusmaster: Kálmán Strausz), Hungarian State Opera Orchestra

Conductor: Domonkos Héja