Composers have always found their most important muses in nature. Mahler's entire oeuvre attests to his sensitive response to the musical stimuli of the environment around him, and one of the ways to interpret his Symphony No. 1 is as a pantheistic symphonic poem. The recently deceased Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara incorporated the singing of the Arctic birds of Lapland into the magical worlds depicted in his 1972 orchestral piece. The recordings of the bird songs are played, in ...some cases slowed down, as their own part in the score, precisely set down by Rautavaara alongside those for the instruments of the orchestra. This unique concerto became one of the composer's most popular pieces, and in many respects evokes the worlds of Romanticism and impressionism in the listener's memories, with its opening unmistakably summoning forth the spirit of Tchaikovsky.
The world première of Mahler's Symphony No. 1. took place in Budapest: this work by the young musical director of the Hungarian Royal Opera House was greatly anticipated both by the audience and within the music profession. Critics ended up divided, and mostly dismissive. Kornél Ábrányi Jr, for example, wrote a detailed account of his reservations, using an expressly ironic tone in describing the birdsong: "an atmospheric village idyll, with woodland buzzing, bird whistles, cuckoo calls, and, to make the ornithological world even more complete, the crowing of cockerels is also included, serving to awaken the huntsmen whose horns merrily blend into the polyphony of sounds.”
Presented by: Hungarian Radio Music Ensembles
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.