Rain date: Sunday, 14 July

RAIN RULES

King Stephen-overture, Op. 117
Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
Christ on the Mount of Olives – oratorio, Op. 85

Andrea Csereklyei soprano
Márton Komáromi tenor
Zsombor Cserményi bass

Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos)
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: György Vashegyi

The King Stephen-overture (1811) is a perfect fit for the programme of the Beethoven concert series in Martonvásár, given that the composer had a well-documented relationship with Hungary. August von Kotzebue’s play, King Stephen, was commissioned for the opening of the German Theatre in Pest (it would eventually take place slightly later, in 1812): Beethoven wrote the overture, the most well-known part of the incidental music. The melodies of the verbunkos – a form of Hungarian dance – signal the Hungarian connection. Of Beethoven’s symphonic productions, Symphony No. 1 was the piece that is most closely tied to the earlier achievements of Viennese Classicism and the later symphonies of Haydn and Mozart. The scope, orchestral arrangement, proportions and gestures of the four-movement work reveal none of the revolutionary innovations that would alter Beethoven’s symphonic world in Symphony No. 3. The rarely heard Christ on the Mount of Olives is a true rarity. Beethoven never wrote a passion, yet this oratorio composed for soloists, choir and orchestra depicts with deep human intimacy the struggle of the Redeemer in the hours spent at night in the Garden of Gethsemane, between the last supper and his arrest.