When Joseph Haydn visited London for the first time, the name that kept coming up over and over again in the whirlwind of his social interactions was that of Georg Friedrich Handel, the German composer who had worked in England until his death a decade earlier. In May of 1791, Haydn had the chance to ascertain that Handel's music was not simply a cultural affair meant for a select group of sophisticated aristocrats with conservative tastes, but something that was greeted with rapture by wi...de swathes of the public. As part of a memorial festival for Händel, several large-scale oratorios, including Israel in Egypt, Esther, Saul, Judas Maccabaeus and The Messiah, were played over the course of several days, not infrequently involving over a thousand participants. On these occasions, Westminster Abbey was packed to overflowing with music lovers who had come to pay their respects to the memory of the Baroque master. According to a contemporary report, Haydn was beside himself after witnessing the amazing experience.
By the end of the decade, he himself had composed a massive, three-part oratorio: The Creation, whose libretto had previously also made its way into Handel's hands. The original libretto was written by an English poet named Lindley based on Milton's Paradise Lost. Haydn brought this text back to Vienna with him and had it translated into German. The work enjoyed enormous success, and there is something symbolic about the fact that it was created at the very end of the century of Enlightenment, since hearing the work reveals to us a world that is inherently good and knowable. Even the Lucifer of Imre Madách's The Tragedy of Man would be hard put to find anything in this world to criticise: 'The vast construction's come to life indeed... For aeons shall the giant wheel revolve before a spoke may falter round its axis.'
Presented by: Hungarian Radio Music Groups
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.