Artist database

Pál Németh graduated from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music as a flutist in 1972 and as a conductor in 1975.

Since l975 he has taught at the Conservatory of Music in Szombathely. He plays the flute and harpsichord in addition to conducting the ensemble. He is a pioneer in the Early Music life in Hungary. He founded several ensembles (Capella Savaria, Savaria Chamber Opera, Savaria Baroque, Central European Baroque Orchestra) and he is the artistic director of the Central European Early Music Festival. He has made about 100 CDs and DVDs with Hungaroton, Quintana, Harmonia mundi, Dynamic. Five of his records won “The Record of the Year” prize. He has had concerts in all of Europe as well as in Canada, USA, Brasil and Israel. In 1991 he was awarded the Liszt-prize and in 2001 the Hungaroton-prize.

His goal is to re-discover and perform rarities from the past centuries (The birth of Verbunk - Hungarian Dances, Esterházy: Harmonia Caelestis, works by M. Haydn, A. Scarlatti and Galuppi, passions, chamber operas). His activity in musicology covers particularly the history of Hungarian music in 17-18th centuries.

He aims to stage chamber operas with the Savaria Chamber Opera as well as big opera productions (Monteverdi’s all stage works, Vivaldi: Il Tigrane, Handel: Orlando, Semele, Mozart: Mitridate, The Magic Flute, Britten: Noah’s Ark) with the Budapest Chamber Opera where he works as a conductor.

He was awarded with the Knight of Cross from the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic in 2022.