BEETHOVEN IN THE PARK Hungarian National Philharmonic concerts in Martonvásár

Of his symphonies, we will hear the Ninth, which concludes with the Ode to Joy, the heroic Third, and the exuberant Seventh. The programme also includes the King Stephen Overture with its Hungarian themes, excerpts from the defiant incidental music to Egmont, and the hymnic Violin Concerto. Gábor Káli and Levente Török will represent the younger generation of conductors, while the ensemble’s Kossuth Prize-winning chief music director, György Vashegyi, will take to the podium for the final concert.
The vocal solos will be performed by Klára Kolonits, Kornélia Bakos, István Kovácsházi, András Palerdi and Adrienn Miksch. When it comes to the Violin Concerto, the audience will be able to delight in the playing of Júlia Pusker. Join us in listening to the masterpieces of the great Viennese Classical master in the park of the Brunszvik Castle.

Saturday, 27 June 2026, 7 pm (rain date: Sunday, 28 June)

King Stephen – overture, Op. 117
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125

Klára Kolonits soprano
Kornélia Bakos alto
István Kovácsházi tenor
András Palerdi bass
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos)
Conductor: Gábor Káli

Even Beethoven paid tribute to the king who founded the state of Hungary. In 1811, the Pest German Theatre opened its doors, and August Friedrich Kotzebue (1761–1819) wrote his play King Stephen to mark the occasion. Beethoven composed incidental music for the piece, and the overture from this work remains popular to this day. It is sure to delight lovers of Hungarian melodies with its energetic verbunkos themes. Some 13 years later, in 1824, Beethoven completed his most famous creation, the Ninth Symphony. Its finale introduced a revolutionary innovation by incorporating a chorus and soloists in setting Friedrich Schiller’s (1759–1805) poem, Ode to Joy, to music. For this performance, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra is joined by the National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos). The soloists, Klára Kolonits, Kornélia Bakos, István Kovácsházi and András Palerdi, are among Hungary’s finest singers and have all achieved many notable successes abroad. Gábor Káli is one of the country’s most outstanding young conductors: he has won international competitions and his performances have been celebrated by audiences from Germany and France to Finland and Portugal.

Saturday, 4 July 2026, 7 pm (rain date: Sunday, 5 July)

Egmont – incidental music, Op. 84, excerpts
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Eroica”), Op. 55

Adrienn Miksch soprano 
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Levente Török

The Flemish Count Lamoral van Egmont (1522–1568) was a martyr of the 16th-century struggles for freedom in the Low Countries. Beethoven composed incidental music for Goethe’s drama about him between October 1809 and June 1810. The creation of the work
gained contemporary relevance from the fact that French troops occupied Vienna at that time as part of the Napoleonic Wars; thus, Beethoven was able to personally experience what it meant to yearn for liberation from foreign oppression as he composed the music. The genesis of his Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (“Eroica”) is also linked to Napoleon: the four-movement work – which represents a paradigm shift in the symphonic repertoire due to its sound and scope – was originally intended by the composer to be dedicated to Napoleon. However, upon learning that the First Consul had crowned himself Emperor, Beethoven, in his disappointment, settled on the subtitle of “heroic” instead. Adrienn Miksch, a member of the Hungarian State Opera, delivers outstanding performances both in the operatic and concert repertoires. The conductor for the evening, Levente Török, completed his higher education at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts and is currently artistic director of the Miskolc Symphony Orchestra. Music director of the City of Aachen since August 2026.

Saturday, 11 July 2026, 7 pm (rain date: Sunday, 12 July)

Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

Júlia Pusker violin
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: György Vashegyi

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (1806) introduced a new intellectual dimension to the concerto genre. The composer expanded its scale and, instead of the entertaining virtuosity previously expected of such works, chose a confessional and deeply personal mode of expression. In doing so, his creation became a forerunner to violin concertos by the likes of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Bartók and Berg. Júlia Pusker, an outstanding representative of the younger generation of Hungarian violinists, first studied at the Liszt Academy in Budapest under István Kertész and Katalin Kokas, before completing her education at the Royal Academy of Music in London under the guidance of György Pauk. The Seventh Symphony (1811/12) bursts with unparalleled energy and celebrates divine intoxication in envisioning an archaic Dionysian festival of joy and by assigning a special role to dactylic rhythm. The conductor for this evening is the Kossuth Prize-winning György Vashegyi, renowned as a specialist in historically informed early music performance, particularly Baroque opera, yet possessing truly all-encompassing interests both stylistically and in terms of genre. In addition to being founder and leader of the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra, he has served as chief music director of the Hungarian National Philharmonic since the autumn of 2022.