Christmas Concert of the Hungarian National Philharmonic

BUSTO: O magnum mysterium
BRITTEN: A hymn to the Virgin
JÁNOS VAJDA: Kolinda
RESPIGHI: Lauda per la nativita del Signore
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, op. 125

Szilvia Rálik – soprano
Ildikó Komlósi – alto
B. Kiss Atilla – tenor
Péter Fried – bass

Hungarian National Choir (choir master: Csaba Somos)
Hungarian National Philharmonic
Conductors: Zsolt Hamar and Csaba Somos

The Birth of Light

Through its innovative programmes and careful selection of pieces, the Hungarian National Choir has brought many exciting works to Hungarian audiences, while also maintaining its mission to preserve the classical repertoire. Their versatility is illustrated by this concert constructed around the spirit of Christmas, in which we will also hear the familiar hymn of joy and brotherly love in the concert's second half. Opening the concert will be the deservedly popular mixed choir piece by Spanish neo-Romantic composer Javier Busto, and the choral piece set to the medieval Marian hymn by Englishman Benjamin Britten will also leave the audience into an awed silence. Kolinda, which performs the psalm-inspired folk verses set to music by János Vajda in the 1980s, invites us to a joyful shared celebration reminiscent of a pagan ritual, rather than sending us into internal ecstasy. A rarity in the programme is the cantata written by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi in 1930, which depicts the birth of Christ with theatrical sensitivity and enthrals listeners with its enchanting instrumentation.