Joining them at the front of the stage will be soloists like Kristóf Baráti, a perennial favourite of the Hungarian audience who has achieved lofty heights internationally, the Turkish pianist Fazıl Say, an artist of extraordinary individuality whose thrilling virtuosity could be described as sorcery, and another local luminary from the Hungarian music scene: flutist János Bálint. Many of our guests will be delighted to learn that, at the first concert, they will once again be hearing the music of Bach, along with some new Hungarian music in the form of a work by László Dubrovay, as well as Kodály's Psalmus hungaricus, one of the noblest pieces our country's traditions have to offer. We will also present two "unfinished" works on a single night: Schubert's Eighth and Bruckner's Ninth. Another evening will be dedicated to Northern Europe, with pieces by Grieg, Sibelius and Nielsen. The final concert on the subscription will be a kind of Viennese-Parisian sandwich, with Mahler's Fifth as the filling.

Next up will be a bout of classical nostalgia made up of works by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich – including such hits as Variations on a Rococo Theme and the Classical Symphony, followed by an exciting journey to the German and Austrian musical worlds of the late 19th and 20th centuries led by Erich Korngold and Richard Strauss. This last concert too will be one of rarities, in the form of Korngold's rarely heard Straussiana, a homage to the "waltz king", Johann Strauss, and Richard Strauss's Aus Italien, another "black swan" on orchestral programmes. And the soloists? Performing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 will be the globally renowned Russian artist Olga Kern, while Tchaikovsky's graceful variations will be entrusted to the capable hands of Alexander Ramm. There is no need to introduce the soloist performing Korngold's Violin Concerto in D major: our own Barnabás Kelemen has long been a favourite with Hungarian audiences. We will welcome, among others, Oliver von Dohnányi, the founder of the Moscow Virtuosi Vladimir Spivakov, and the enormously talented young German maestro Christoph Altstaedt to the conductor’s podium.

These will include Luigi Cherubini's dramatic overture to Médée, Sibelius's Second Symphony, which simultaneously evokes the Kalevala, Finland’s endless forests and the Ligurian coast, and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's Hamburg Symphony, just to name a few. Unforgettable concert experiences are guaranteed by the presence of international stars like oboist and conductor François Leleux, who reveals every nuance of his instrument, cello master Miklós Perényi, Henrik Nánási, who twice led Berlin's Komische Oper to winning the title "Opera House of the Year", and Konrad Junghänel, the iconic figure of early music. Could anyone wish for anything more?

The compilers of the season ticket, however, have also assured that the programme will also not lack true audience draws like Franz Liszt's symphonic poem Tasso and his Piano Concerto in E-flat major, or Zoltán Kodály's Háry János and Concerto, and Ernst von Dohnányi's Suite in F-sharp minor. Deserving of special attention are those compositions for which it is high time to dust off their scores – such as Karl Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony, which has previously been performed by great conductors like Thomas Beecham and Leonard Bernstein. The soloists – Ádám Balogh, Gergely Devich, Erika Gál, László Hadady, Zsolt Haja, Andrea Vigh and Szabolcs Zempléni – are luminaries of the Hungarian music world who have, almost without exception, also proved themselves on the international stage. The Lukács season ticket, therefore, offers audiences a comprehensive review of Hungarian music.

The compositions of the programme, which primarily features oratorios alongside several a cappella choral works, are connected by specific conceptual and spiritual threads.
For our first concert, the opening piece will feature the special atmosphere of Frank Martin's oratorio In terra pax. The work – which is being performed in Hungary for the very first time – was created during World War Two. Now, in the current period, it will bring us a feeling of a new beginning after the coronavirus epidemic.
A yearning for higher spheres characterises both Schumann's Paradise and the Peri and Bartók's Cantata profana.
Alongside the performance of great classic works, the presentation of new Hungarian compositions is a major part of our mission. Which is why our programme will also feature, among other things, some remarkable new church-inspired works from Zoltán Kovács and Tamás Beischer-Matyó.
In addition to performing alongside the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, for the upcoming season the Hungarian National Choir has also invited three other major Hungarian ensembles: the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and the Capella Savaria.
Please join us for our thrilling concerts at the Vigadó Concert Hall!

Csaba Somos
Choirmaster of the Hungarian National Choir

This happens sometimes through their style and sometimes through their message. Other times, it might even be the forward-looking nature of their musical ideas or even the composer's lonely search owed to an astonishing final result.
We are omitting all of the traditionally "great" composers from the endless list of creators of symphonic poems. Although no one should count on hearing the music of Liszt or Richard Strauss, they can depend on encountering works by everyone who helped develop, expand and sustain this genre. Our composers willl include Camille Saint-Saëns, César Franck, Alexander Glazunov, Jean Sibelius, Arthur Honegger, Bohuslav Martinů, Jacques Ibert, Carl Nielsen and Anatoly Lyadov. Each and every one of them was a dazzling symphonist of an era brimming with talent who enriched the colourful palette of music history with unique tones. Now is the time to overrule our elitist judgements and get to know the masterpieces mistakenly classified as "less interesting" that these composers wrote.

Dániel Dinyés