Tickets – Filharmonikusok

Dear Audience,

A Man for All Seasons – although this classic film depicted the life of Sir Thomas Moore, the title would be equally appropriate for a movie about Beethoven. Whatever the circumstances, Beethoven’s music is always current: it speaks to our own problems, joys and struggles with a freshness and intimacy that has remained unchanged throughout the centuries. Beethoven’s music is forever contemporary – it is no coincidence that Stravinsky said exactly this about Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge. And Beethoven belongs to Hungary, too. Just a stone’s throw from Budapest, you will find the stunning palace gardens in Martonvásár where the Viennese master often stayed as a guest of the Brunszvik family. For the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, every July is a celebration – of a great composer’s genius. On these Martonvásár nights, let us listen together under starry skies to the masterpieces of Beethoven,
interpreted by the very finest Hungarian musicians.

Domonkos Herboly
General Music Director of the Hungarian National Philharmonic

Saturday, 1 July 2023, 7 pm
(rain date: 2 July)

Leonora Overture No. 2, op. 72a
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, op. 37
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Eroica”), op. 55

Mihály Berecz piano
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: György Vashegyi

Beethoven wrote four different overtures to his only opera, Fidelio (1814), a paean to loyalty and the thirst for freedom. The most popular and most-played is the Leonora Overture No. 3. Tonight, we will hear its infrequently heard relation, the Leonora Overture No. 2, notable as the version used in the world première of Fidelio, on 20 November 1805. With its seriousness and minor key, the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, which in the opening movement strikes a ‘soldierly’ sound that was particularly popular at the time, marked a turning point in Beethoven’s concertos – its format, scale and power all point the way forward. The heroic sound of Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, “Eroica”, written two years later, is a fine companion to the concerto’s military style. Famously, while Beethoven had intended to dedicate the symphony to Napoleon, when he heard that the first consul had crowned himself emperor, the composer angrily tore up the first page of the manuscript bearing Bonaparte’s name and renamed the piece Sinfonia eroica (Heroic Symphony). Symphony No. 3 is a key work: not only because the four-movement composition unfolds across changing dimensions as it anticipates the Romantic mode of expression, but also because the score provides one of the very first documents of Beethoven’s hero worship. Mihály Berecz (b. 1997) is one of the most talented members of the young generation of Hungarian pianists, while György Vashegyi (b. 1970), the new principle music director of the Hungarian National Philharmonic, is one of the most important Hungarian interpreters of the repertoire of not only Baroque music, but also the First Viennese School.

Saturday, 8 July 2023, 7 pm
(rain date: 9 July)

Symphony No. 2 in D major, op. 36
Romance in G major, op. 40
Romance No. 2 in F major, op. 50
Symphony No. 7 in A major, op. 92

Júlia Pusker violin
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Domonkos Héja

Beethoven wrote Symphony No. 2 in D major in a period of his life known for his writing of the Heiligenstadt Testament, which provided a deeply personal confession. One much- discussed and notably contradictory aspect of the piece is that while the testament confronted the horror of deafness, it also presents a Beethoven who stays true to his humanist principles despite his broken spirit, while his symphony is full of serenity and energy, playfulness and humour. Symphony No. 7 in A major (1811–1813), written a decade later, represents a different phase of the composer’s career. The work was conceived under the spell of dactylic rhythm. Wagner called it “the apotheosis of dance”, and the often ecstatically powerful music presents a vision of the rapture of a Dionysian feast. Between two symphonies of a decidedly boisterous character, two violin romances (F-major: 1798, and G-major: 1801/1802) appear as an island of peace. The romances occupy a special place in the composer’s ouevre: while most of Beethoven’s creations contain fraught, demanding music that is rich in conflict, these two gentle works are the epitome of composure and poise, akin to two devoted prayers. Júlia
Pusker is one of the finest young violinists in Hungary. After graduating from the Liszt Academy in Budapest, she completed her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Domonkos Héja (b.1974) founded the Danubia Orchestra at the age of 19. Later, the Hungarian State Opera was one of his most important places of work, while he has also fulfilled a series of guest roles abroad.

Saturday, 15 July 2023, 7 pm
(rain date: 16 July)

Egmont Overture, op. 84
Der glorreiche Augenblick – cantata, op. 136
Symphony No. 5 in C minor (“Fate”), op. 67

Zita Szemere, Ágnes Szalai soprano
István Horváth tenor
Krisztián Cser bass
Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos)
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Ádám Cser

Opuses associated with the idea of struggle. Beethoven wrote the Egmont incidental music (1809/1810) for Goethe’s play of the same name, which dealt with the heroic theme of the 16th century fight for freedom in the Low Countries. The most popular part of Beethoven’s work is the overture, which was heard regularly on Budapest radio broadcasts during the autumn of 1956 and became a symbol of the Hungarian revolution and fight for liberty. Beethoven composed the rarely heard cantata Der glorreiche Augenblick for the opening of the Congress of Vienna after the end of the Napoleonic Wars – the piece celebrated Europe’s victory over the armies of the invading general. Struggle is also present in Symphony No. 5 in C minor (“Fate”), one of the most famous compositions in music history, though in this case it is depicted not in historical events, but through the life of an individual. Symphony No.5 depicts Man’s struggle with fate. The hero grapples with himself in the opening movement, confesses his faith in the slow movement, reflects on the demons in his life in the scherzo, and in the finale triumphantly celebrates his victory. With thematic unity, brevity and an illustrative spirit despite the lack of a textual programme, the symphony is a prelude to Romanticism and points towards the symphonic poems of the 19th century. The vocal soloists for the cantata, Zita Szemere, Ágnes Szalai, István Horváth and Krisztián Cser, have a wealth of experience in many styles and genres and are outstanding representatives of Hungarian
singing culture, while the Hungarian National Choir and the Hungarian National Philharmonic will be led by Ádám Cser. Cser is a much sought-after member of the seasoned generation of Hungarian conductors and has enjoyed great acclaim in recent years as a special guest of numerous Hungarian orchestras.

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Beethoven in the Park

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