Advent Concert

3 December 2023. 7:30 pm
Müpa Budapest - Béla Bartók National Concert Hall
1095 Budapest, Komor Marcell u. 1.

Advent: the coming. The four weeks leading up to Christmas are a time of anticipation. During this period, we don't have a single free minute: everyone is busy buying or making gifts. The thing we need most in this season, however, is the peace that helps us prepare for the festival of love in the manner that it deserves. What can help us relax and clear our minds? Music! Works expressing the theme and atmosphere of Advent performed at Müpa Budapest by the Cantemus Choir Family and the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Mixed Youth Choir of the Hungarian Radio Children's Choir.

Opening the concert with the sound of pure simplicity are Miklós Kocsár's Christmas carol arrangements, works perfectly suited to the angelic voices of the children's choirs. An important part of the programme is the composition by composer of the season György Orbán, which will be followed by music from Bence Kutrik and Levente Gyöngyösi, completing the Hungarian chapter of the programme as representatives of the younger generation. Also noteworthy is the fact that it is the rarely played E-flat major version of Bach's grand Magnificat that we will be hearing tonight. Choir conductor Dénes Szabó began work building his ensembles in Nyíregyháza nearly half a century ago. The first member of the Cantemus Choir Family was the Cantemus Children's Choir, followed by the Pro Musica Girls' Choir, the Cantemus Mixed Choir, the Cantemus Boys' Choir and the Cantemus Mixed Youth Choir. Szabó's son Soma Szabó has played a key role alongside his father in managing these choirs boasting extensive international success for many years now. The Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1943 by the great conductor, composer and pianist Ernst von Dohnányi. The Hungarian Radio Children's Choir came together in 1954 through the efforts of the married couple of choral conductors Valéria Botka and László Csányi. The ensemble, which regularly enjoys success abroad as well as in Hungary, has been led by Soma Dinyés since 2019.