On this night, Tamás Vásáry and the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra will perform two significant works by Brahms: the Violin Concerto and the Symphony No. 4. Brahms composed his sole violin concerto for József Joachim, one of the greatest violinists of the 19th century, and this virtuoso piece was the stamp on the two's lifelong friendship. The first two movements of his Fourth Symphony, for their part, are of a quite elegiac character, and therefore the work is considered by many to be a characteristic representative of Brahms' melancholy.
Brahms was 20 years old in 1853 when he met the violinist József Joachim, two years his senior. Two and a half decades later, as he was writing the Violin Concerto, the composer asked Joachim for his opinion on some technical issues regarding the instrument. The soloist for the concert, Vilmos Oláh, once said, "I was seven or eight years old when I started collecting records. It was on these records that I heard József Joachim's music for the first time and it had an amazing effect on me, ...making, for example, his interpretations my model when it comes to playing Brahms.”
Brahms's fourth and final symphony received its highly successful première in 1885, performed by the Meiningen Court Orchestra under the baton of Hans von Bülow. Brahms ironically described his work as a series of "entr'actes" that "take after the climate in this region, where the cherries do not ripen.” The gloomy symphony is one of the composer's most serious works; many of its passages are of an elegiac character. Its melancholic melodic world, quaint harmonies and veiled instrumentation all combine to reinforce this tone.
Presented by: Hungarian Radio Art 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.