Magyar Nemzeti Férfikar (Hungarian National Male Voice Choir)
Orchestra, choir, ensemble
Founded in 1948, the Hungarian National Male Voice Choir is the second largest professional male choir in the world. Many internationally renowned artists started as members of the choir, such as Róbert Ilosvay, József Réti, József Gregor, B. János Nagy and Dénes Gulyás, who also sang at the Metropolitan. The choir was founded in 1949 as the Choir of the Honvéd Central Art Ensemble. Their name was later changed to Honvéd Male Choir and from the 2024/2025 season they will continue to operate under the name Hungarian National Male Voice Choir.
The choir's repertoire is very broad, covering all musical styles from Gregorian chant to 20th century European and Hungarian composers. Liszt, Bartók and Kodály are particularly prominent in their programme. The choir is a frequent participant in opera productions, most recently in 2005 in the Palace of Arts (Budapest) in performances of Weber's opera "The Magic Hunter". They have performed several times under the baton of world-famous conductors such as Marc Albrecht, Ernest Ansermet, Carlo Zecchi, Lamberto Gardelli, Karolos Trikolidis, Lovro von Matacic, Zubin Mehta, Michel Plasson, Yuri Simonov, Giuseppe Patané, Robert Sund, Andriy Yurkevych, Marcello Viotti, as well as Antal Doráti, György Solti, Iván Fischer, Ádám Fischer, István Kertész, János Ferencsik and Ken-Icsiro Kobayashi.
Several of their recordings have received significant international recognition: two of their Liszt recordings (Requiem, Psalmus) and a Bartók recording (Male Choirs) have won the Grand Prix of the Charles Cros Academy of Recording Arts in Paris. Their exceptional performances are also preserved in numerous radio and television recordings. In addition to Hungary, the ensemble performs worldwide and successfully represents the Hungarian choral culture. The choir has been awarded the Béla Bartók - Ditta Pásztory Prize (1998), the Hungarian Heritage Prize, the Prima Primissima Prize and the Grand Prize for Recordings of the Charles Cros Academy. Since 2020 February, the ensemble´s music director has been Richárd Riederauer.
The choir's repertoire is very broad, covering all musical styles from Gregorian chant to 20th century European and Hungarian composers. Liszt, Bartók and Kodály are particularly prominent in their programme. The choir is a frequent participant in opera productions, most recently in 2005 in the Palace of Arts (Budapest) in performances of Weber's opera "The Magic Hunter". They have performed several times under the baton of world-famous conductors such as Marc Albrecht, Ernest Ansermet, Carlo Zecchi, Lamberto Gardelli, Karolos Trikolidis, Lovro von Matacic, Zubin Mehta, Michel Plasson, Yuri Simonov, Giuseppe Patané, Robert Sund, Andriy Yurkevych, Marcello Viotti, as well as Antal Doráti, György Solti, Iván Fischer, Ádám Fischer, István Kertész, János Ferencsik and Ken-Icsiro Kobayashi.
Several of their recordings have received significant international recognition: two of their Liszt recordings (Requiem, Psalmus) and a Bartók recording (Male Choirs) have won the Grand Prix of the Charles Cros Academy of Recording Arts in Paris. Their exceptional performances are also preserved in numerous radio and television recordings. In addition to Hungary, the ensemble performs worldwide and successfully represents the Hungarian choral culture. The choir has been awarded the Béla Bartók - Ditta Pásztory Prize (1998), the Hungarian Heritage Prize, the Prima Primissima Prize and the Grand Prize for Recordings of the Charles Cros Academy. Since 2020 February, the ensemble´s music director has been Richárd Riederauer.