The theme speaks for itself, and yet the selection of works for this performance by the MÁV Symphony Orchestra at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall is unusual. Here an orchestra that has now functioned for almost seven decades offers the chance to hear works written by a selection of Hungarian composers who settled abroad – either by necessity or voluntarily. Moreover, one of the guest artists for the evening is partly of Hungarian descent. Gwendolyn Masin’s mother emigrated in 1956, founding a reputed music school in Ireland. Masin herself was born in Amsterdam and created a sensation everywhere she went as a Wunderkind, appearing at the Academy of Music in Budapest at the age of five, for example. Now in her mid-thirties, she is known as the originator of her own violin method, as the artistic director of a chamber music festival in Switzerland, and, naturally, as a worldwide concert artist.
The conductor for the evening is Teddy Abrams, who studied under Michael Tilson Thomas at the Curtis Institute and made his stateside reputation as a conductor of the New World Symphony. Rather than leaving Hungary, Abrams moved here: his interest in European music and performing culture led him to Budapest, where he conducted the MÁV Symphony Orchestra as an assistant to Gábor Takács-Nagy from 2011, and has continued as a conductor of the ensemble since 2012.
Interesting elements of the concert programme include a work by Antal Doráti, who is known as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century and graduated in composition under Zoltán Kodály. The programme also features Hungarian-themed night music from 1964 by three-time Oscar-winning film composer Miklós Rózsa, as well as a refreshingly witty rhapsody by Ernő Dohnányi from 1953, which adapts a number of American folk songs and spirituals.

A stage conversation under the title Preface will precede the concert from 6.30 pm, giving ticket holders the opportunity to better familiarise themselves with the musicians and the works they will perform.

Presented by: Palace of Arts