The Chamber Orchestra of Europe opens the Budapest Spring Festival

What could better symbolize the diversity of European culture than the sixty-strong Chamber Orchestra of Europe, whose young musicians come from fifteen European countries?

That is why it is symbolic that they open the 44. Budapest Spring Festival program series, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of Hungary’s accession to the EU with this concert. The band is coming to Budapest at the invitation of the Esterházy Magyarország Foundation.

THE in the program of the opening concert among others, works by Ferenc Liszt, Joseph Haydn and Béla Bartók will be performed. Miklós Perényi, artist of the nation, two-time Kossuth Prize winner and Ferenc Liszt Prize laureate, will participate as a soloist.

As a special feature of the program, a prose work written by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney for “Welcome Day” on May 1, 2004, when European leaders gathered in Dublin to celebrate the accession of ten new member states, including Hungary, will be performed. Now, to mark the 20th anniversary of enlargement, Ireland’s embassies in each of the ten states that joined the EU on that May day have asked a well-known poet to re-translate Heaney’s iconic poem. The Hungarian version – together with the original poem – will now be performed publicly for the first time in the interpretation of actor Declan Hannigen.

Founded in 1981, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe was initially mentored by Claudio Abbado, then Nikolas Harnoncourt, and today has honorary members such as Sir András Schiff, or Canadian Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The orchestra performs as a guest on the most famous stages in Europe: the Berlin Philharmonic, the Paris Philharmonic, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Luxembourg Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt are regular performers. In 2022, they successfully applied for the title of resident band of the Esterházy Castle in Kismarton, thanks to which they have now arrived in Budapest, the Esterházy Hungary Foundation at his invitation.

It is worth buying a ticket for their concert now, as the high musical quality is guaranteed not only by their success in the world’s most famous concert halls, but also by their excellent CDs. The latter were awarded twice with the Grammy Award and three times with the Gramaphone Record of the Year Award.

Tickets for the program starting at 7 p.m. on April 29, 2024 at the Italian Institute in Budapest here are interchangeable. Tickets for the concert can also be purchased with a SZÉP card.