We don't just play music on holidays! We also do it on the days leading up to them! Christmas, humanity's greatest holiday and one that gets people on five continents into a state of spiritual harmony, is unimaginable without music. This concert of the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hungarian National Choir, headlined by an outstanding vocal quartet and a wonderful organist, not to mention conducted by a young Hungarian conductor who is pursuing a successful career abroad, will feature a great variety of music, ranging from rarely heard treats to repertoire standards.
Although the name Otto Nicolai today is synonymous with the Romantic comic opera Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor, what is less well known is that early in his career, the composer was chiefly interested in church music, making it no wonder that he based his rarely heard Christmas Overture, to be played tonight, on a chorale melody. Handel's Organ Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major is full of light and cheer, while the American Samuel Barber's famous Adagio for Strings, which was actually originally ...the middle movement of the composer's string quartet, brims with reverence. And Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which will comprise the second part of the concert? It, of course, is replete with joy, one might answer, as the finale of the work, which also employs soloists and a choir, sets Schiller's Ode to Joy to music - but this revolutionary, innovative work is also about desire for freedom and love. "Be embraced, the millions!" proclaims the text, making the Ninth a suitable piece for the celebration of love as well. Guaranteeing the high vocal standard of the symphony will be Klára Kolonits, Andrea Meláth, István Horváth and István Kovács, along with the Hungarian National Choir, while the organ playing of Ádám Tabajdi promises virtuosity and grace in the Handel concerto. Conducting the concert will be Henrik Nánási, former chief music director of Berlin's Komische Oper.
Presented by: Hungarian National Philharmonic
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
Refreshments – Without the Queue
Thanks to our new catering service at the Átrium Snack Bar, you can forget about waiting in line during intermissions for some refreshments and get your order prepped especially for you by the time the intermission actually starts. Find out more about pre-ordering here.
Safe ticket purchase
Dear Visitors, please note that only tickets purchased from the Müpa website and official ticket offices are guaranteed to be valid. To avoid possible inconvenience, we suggest buying tickets to our performances and concerts via the mupa.hu website, the Interticket national network (jegy.hu) or at our official ticket offices.