Palace Concerts 2020 Symphonies of Eszterháza Part XXII

Symphonies of Eszterháza ‒ Part XXII

12 years – 21 weekends – 92 symphonies. György Vashegyi and the Orfeo Orchestra performed between 1998 and 2009 an important Haydn-cycle in Fertőd-Eszterháza. They played for the first time since Haydn’s lifetime all his symphonies written before London, at their birthplace, on period instruments, employing an unusually small ensemble Haydn used for his symphonies. In the same period, all the masses and the German oratories of Haydn were also performed in concert, in collaboration with the Purcell Choir. This monumental series has been resumed since 2019 within the walls of the palace. 

The Orfeo Orchestra, having achieved notable international successes, including the “Diamant de l’Opéra” of the French Opéra Magazine, “Diapason D’Or” and the “Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik”, often worked with famous conductors, as Helmuth Rilling, René Jacobs, Philippe Herreweghe, Masaaki Suzuki or Ádám Fischer. This time, the orchestra will be conducted by its founder, the Ferenc Liszt Award winning György Vashegyi. His intense Haydn interpretation can be best summarised through the words of some European reviewers: „his sublime, flexible and dramatic gesture reflects immediately [...] his sense for tones and proportioning; [...] The consistence, and the balance of his conducting prove of incontestable competence [...] he is able to shape each part well-articulated, diverse and contrasting, as well as to find their character and their emotional challenges [...] his conducting is dynamic, diverse, colourful, rationally energic, still able to be affectionate.” 

The soloist of the concerti will be Mihály Berecz, the most prominent representant of the young Hungarian pianist generation, who, under the guidance of his mentor Zoltán Kocsis, performed at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall at the age of sixteen. In 2017, he was awarded the gold prize of the Manhattan International Music Competition and in 2018, he also won the Harriet Cohen Bach Prize from the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has worked with artists such as Arie Vardi, Tamás Vásáry, Pascal Devoyon, Imogen Cooper and Malcolm Bilson at several international masterclasses. Music critics praise his accurate, authentic and subtile, nevertheless energetic and loose interpretations. 

___________________________________________________

Like in Shakespeare’s tragedies
July 31, 2020, Friday, 7 p.m.
Apollo Hall

J. Haydn: Symphony No. 43 in E flat major ”Mercury”
J. Haydn: Symphony No. 91 in E flat major
L. van Beethoven: Concerto for Fortepiano in B flat major Op. 19

Mihály Berecz– fortepiano
Orfeo Orchestra(on period instruments)
László Paulik– concertmaster
György Vashegyi – conductor

When Haydn received a doctorate in music from Oxford, the European Magazine wrote: “This musical Shakespeare – this musical Drawcansir, who can equal the strains of a Cherub, and enchant in all the gradations between those and a ballad – a genius whose versatility comprehends all the powers of harmony, and all the energy, pathos, and passion of melody! Who can stun with thunder, or warble with a bird!”

According to a third-hand report, Haydn gave Beethoven a sincere opinion of his works:  „[In] my opinion there will always be something – if not eccentric, then at any rate unusual in your works: one will find beautiful things in them, even admirable passages, but here and there something peculiar, dark, because you yourself are a little sinister and peculiar, and the style of the musician is always that of the person himself. Look at my compositions. You will often find something jovial about them, because that’s the way I am; next to a serious thought you will find a cheerful one, as in Shakespeare’s tragedies.”

___________________________________________________

Crystal ball of life
August 1, 2020, Saturday, 7 p.m.
Apollo Hall

J. Haydn: Symphony No. 42 in D major
W. A. Mozart: Concerto for Fortepiano in B flat major KV 450
J. Haydn: Symphony No. 89 in F major 

Mihály Berecz– fortepiano
Orfeo Orchestra(on period instruments)
László Paulik– concertmaster
György Vashegyi – conductor

“All the different facets of existence float and spin in [Mozart's] crystal ball. Mozart is drama, dialogue, constant characterization of his characters. … Mozart doesn't talk about himself, he is speaking of all of us, he's writing the music of the human race, while holding a thread that binds him to the divine” – said the world-famous pianist Piotr Anderszewski. “I think they are both concerts that make you sweat,” wrote Mozart about the piano concerts, which he composed in 1784 for his own performances. The concerto in B flat major is very complex and virtuoso and holds a prominent position in Mozart's exceptional piano concert series. The concert is framed by two captivating Haydn symphonies. Concerning their performance, Haydn himself wrote in the late 1780s: “Now I would humbly ask you to tell the Princely Kapellmeister there that these 3 symphonies, because of their many particular effects, should be rehearsed at least once, carefully and with special concentration, before they are performed.”

_____________________________________________________

The demoiselle
August 2, 2020, Sunday, 7 p.m.
Apollo Hall

J. Haydn: Symphony No. 30 in C major ”Alleluja”
J. Haydn: Symphony No. 24 in D major
W. A. Mozart: Concerto for Fortepiano in E flat major ”Jeunehomme” KV 271

Mihály Berecz– fortepiano
Orfeo Orchestra(on period instruments)
László Paulik– concertmaster
György Vashegyi – conductor

“Since the time when Hayde [!] changed the tone of Viennese music, or set a new pace, it has actually become more characteristic than ever before, but from the dignity… it has too much sunk into triviality… The comic maiden, having been banished from the theatrical sphere [...] seems to have begged acceptance into music; the priest [Haydn?], a man who seems to be made for humour, was softened, seized the droll thing, and shoved her into his temple; and ever since, we laugh at Viennese music”, wrote C. L. Junker in 1776. However, the cradle of classical symphony is Haydn's Eszterháza. Without these early works, the centuries-long success story of the genre would have been inconceivable.

Mozart presumably wrote one of his most sophisticated, most structured piano concerts called “Jeunehomme” for Victoire Jenamy, who probably visited Salzburg in 1776. The “demoiselle” was the daughter of Mozart's friend, Jean George Noverre, the most famous choreographer of the 18^th century, who worked in Vienna in the 1770s and in 1772 performed with his ballet company in Eszterháza, as well.

_____________________________________________________

ESZTERHÁZA KULTURÁLIS, KUTATÓ- ÉS FESZTIVÁLKÖZPONT KÖZHASZNÚ NONPROFIT KFT.
H–9431 Fertőd, Joseph Haydn út 2.
Tel.: +36 99 537 640 | E-mail: info@eszterhaza.hu | www.eszterhaza.hu 

Palace Concerts – Symphonies of Eszterháza – Part XXII
Tickets: 7000 HUF
Tickets are available at www.jegymester.hu or at the reception of the Esterházy Palace in Fertőd.

Tickets with 20 percent discount are available until July 18, 2020.
For more information about our discounts please call +36 99 537 640.