Haydneum | Homepage

II. Haydneum Festival of Sacred Music – Concert of the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra – KENGYEL

8 June, 2023 - 6:00 PM

Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Kengyel

II. Haydneum Festival of Sacred Music – Concert of the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra – OPENING CONCERT

9 June, 2023 - 8:00 PM

University Church, Budapest

Tickets Read more

II. Haydneum Festival of Sacred Music – Concert of the Hungarian National Choir and the Budapest Strings

10 June, 2023 - 8:00 PM

University Church, Budapest

Tickets Read more

II. HAYDNEUM FESTIVAL OF SACRED MUSIC

9-17 June 2023, Budapest

The Haydneum – Hungarian Early Music Centre will organise its second Festival of Sacred Music between 9 and 17 June 2023 at the University Church in Budapest. The main objective of the festival is to bring to the fore the 17th and 18th century repertoire, which is researched and preserved by the institution and harbours undiscovered treasures. The concerts will feature works by Joseph and Michael Haydn, Charpentier, Benedek Istvánffy and Strattner, as well as works by one of the most outstanding composers of the period, Gregor Joseph Werner, from the Esterházy score collection of the National Széchényi Library, unperformed since the 18th century. Among the performers are such distinguished early and modern instrumental ensembles as the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra, the Hungarian National Choir, the Budapest Strings, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the MÁV Symphony Orchestra, the Kodály Choir Debrecen, the Capella Savaria, with conductors such as József Gál, Csaba Somos, András Keller, Zoltán Kocsis-Holper and György Vashegyi.
The closing concert of the festival will feature works by Gregor Joseph Werner that have not been heard for hundreds of years, and admission to this evening is free but registration is required.

In addition to the concerts in Budapest, the festival will also be held in four other venues in the countryside between 8 and 18 June: in Kengyel, Tihany, Mako and Szeged. The rural concerts are free of charge.

SEASON TICKET for the 5 concerts of the festival (admission to the closing concert is free but registration is required)

HAYDNEUM MÜPA SERIES 2023/2024

Our season offers a varied programme with our resident ensembles, the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra, in Müpa Budapest's Béla Bartók National Concert Hall.

The series will be launched with a major international production in September 2023 in collaboration with the Centre de baroque musique de Versailles: Haydneum will present a concert performance of the opera Rameau’s Les Boréades, with a line-up of top soloists, most of whom have already appeared at previous Haydneum concerts: Sabine Devieilhe, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Benedikt Kristjánsson, Philippe Estèphe, Thomas Dolié, Tassis Christoyannis, Gwendoline Blondeel.
The soloist of the October Haydn-Hummel-Beethoven programme will be Mihály Berecz, partner of the Orfeo Orchestra, playing Hummel’s Piano Concerto in A minor, while Katalin Szutrély will perform Haydn’s Scena di Berenice and Beethoven’s concert aria Ah, perfido. Hummel’s Te Deumin D and Mass in D minor will also feature the exceptional Purcell Choir.
In March 2024, our ensembles will perform the first version of Bach’s St John Passion from 1724, to mark the 300th anniversary of the work’s composition. Our soloists will be Ágnes Kovács – soprano, Eszter Balogh – alto, Bernhard Berchtold and Zoltán Megyesi – tenor and Stephan MacLeod – bass.
The series will conclude with Mozart’s Requiem in May 2024.

Season tickets are available until 31 May 2023 with a 20% discount, full-price season tickets and solo tickets are available from 1 June on the jegy.hu website and at the Müpa Budapest box office.

The first 200 season ticket buyers will receive a GIFT TICKET to the concert of the two ensembles at the Liszt Academy in Budapest on 28 January 2024, featuring Bach’s Mass in B minor!

HAYDNEUM FORTEPIANO SERIES

2023/2024

The five concerts in the series will introduce the audience to keyboard instruments from different eras in the magnificently renovated Solti Hall of the Liszt Academy. Since the end of last year, the Haydneum’s collection has been enriched with several fortepianos, and we would like to present these wonderful instruments to our audiences in this series.

We will be assisted by such outstanding pianists as the Dutch pianist Bart van Oort and our distinguished Hungarian pianists Petra Somlai, Mihály Berecz, János Balázs and József Balog.
József Balog will be joined on stage by singer Emőke Baráth, while Mihály Berecz will be joined by Katalin Szutrély as a vocal partner in next year’s series. Bart van Oort, Petra Somlai and János Balázs will also be performing with great artists, the names of these partners will be announced later, together with the detailed programmes.

Our fortepianos will also be important contributors to the rental evenings: an 1825 Conrad Graf copy, an 1835 original Maximilian Schott fortepiano from Vienna, an 1811 Johann Fritz copy, an 1840 original Erard from Paris, and an original 1872 Johann Baptiste Streicher fortepiano.

Tickets will be on sale from 1 April 2023 at jegy.hu and at the ticket office of the Liszt Academy.

10,000 digitized pages:

first milestone in the collaboration between the National Széchényi Library and Haydneum – Hungarian Centre for Early Music

The digitization centre of the National Széchényi Library (OSZK) has been functioning for one year. It boasts the largest and most modern equipment of any Central European public collection. Tying in with the inauguration of the centre, the OSZK and Haydneum – Hungarian Centre for Early Music signed an agreement, the fruit of which is these first 10,000 pages, something we can all be proud of.

Visit of the Empress

Maria Theresa 250

Empress Maria Theresa visited Eszterháza in September 1773, and to mark the 250th anniversary, the Haydneum will commemorate the event with concerts several times throughout the year.

On 26 March, the series of commemorations will be launched at the Hungarian House of Music under the title “The Visit of the Empress”, in collaboration with the Hungarian House of Music, the venue of the concert. Performances by the distinguished soprano Ella Smith and the Orfeo Orchestra will include excerpts from Haydn’s opera L’infedeltà delusa, as well as the No. 26 “Lamentatione” and the No. 48 “Maria Theresa” symphonies – the latter not actually written to commemorate the Empress’s visit: it was completed years earlier, in 1768 or ’69. But tradition has linked its birth to the imperial visit, and so, like so many other Haydn symphonies, the adjective stuck, and that is how it is known today.

During the concert, a conversation between András Batta and György Vashegyi will provide interesting facts about the event and the period.

Rameau: Castor et Pollux

Concert performance with international stars

340 years ago, Jean-Pilippe RAMEAU, one of the most important composers of the French Baroque, was born!

His opera Castor et Pollux will be performed at Müpa Early Music Festival, in collaboration with the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles and the Haydneum on 2 March!

Rehearsals have started and the opera will also be recorded!

With: Judith Van Wanroij, Véronique Gens, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Tassis Christoyannis, Olivia Doray, Hasnaa Bennani, Jehanne Amzal, David Witczak, Attila Varga-Tóth, the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra, conducted by: György Vashegyi

Händel: Athalia Tour

with the Purcell Choir and the Capella Savaria

Handel’s oratorio composed in Oxford will be performed by the Purcell Choir and Capella Savaria 4 times in January 2023.
The tour will stop in Veszprém, Budapest, Szombathely, Pécs.
Solists are Katalin Szutrély, Ágnes Kovács, Zita Acsai, Péter Bárány, Zoltán Megyesi, and the New Zealand bass Will King.

The Haydneum Autumn Festival has ended

The Haydneum's Autumn Festival closed with Haydn's opera L'isola disabitata and with a huge success

5 amazing concerts at Budapest’s top venues, fantastic foreign and Hungarian performers, 5 different genres – there was something for everyone. The focus was on Haydn, but we also had the opportunity to explore and immerse ourselves in works by Salieri, Cherubini, Michael Haydn, Zimmermann and Beethoven.
Thank you to our audience for joining us – there will be another Sacred Music and Autumn Festival in 2023!

Haydneum Autumn Festival

25 October - 2 November 2022, Budapest

From 25 October to 2 November 2022, we will be holding our Autumn Festival, which will be characterised by its diversity. We offer 5 concerts, each one unique in its genre. The concept is that Joseph Haydn will be a permanent feature of each programme, with a different composer or venue appearing alongside him, and this is reflected in the subtitles.
The concerts will feature the Parisian Le Concert de la Loge with Julien Chauvin and the Orfeo Orchestra, the Purcell Choir conducted by György Vashegyi, and Musica Aeterna from Bratislava (artistic director: Peter Zajíček), Petra Somlai (fortepiano), Zoltán Megyesi (tenor), and in the closing concert 4 outstanding soloists: Ágnes Kovács, Eszter Balogh, Márton Komáromi and Szilveszter Szélpál.

String Quartets in Eszterháza 2022

On the weekends of August, string quartet music will be performed by outstanding Hungarian quartets within the walls of the Esterházy Palace in Fertőd

The Esterházy Palace in Fertőd-Eszterháza is the only location in modern-day Hungary that is circled in red ink on the map of eighteenth-century European music history. Joseph Haydn worked there for almost half of his active life, from 1766 to 1790, and during that period he spent most of every year there in the service of Prince Nicholas Esterházy I ‘the Magnificent’.

Playing and listening to Haydn in Eszterháza is a unique experience.

The Haydneum – Hungarian Centre for Early Music considers Eszterháza a special place and is preparing a major programme to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Empress Maria Theresa’s visit to Eszterháza in 2023.
This summer, the string quartet concert series, organised in cooperation with the Philharmonia Hungary and the Eszterháza Public Benefit Non-profit Ltd., will also welcome the mentors and scholarship holders of the Sándor Végh String Quartet Programme, which has been announced by the Philharmonia Hungary every year since 2021 to cultivate and develop the Hungarian string quartet tradition.

Haydneum at the Veszprém Early Music Days

The Veszprém Early Music Days, which have been held since 2013, will offer 10 special programmes in cooperation with the Haydneum from 18 to 26 July. The festival will feature chamber music ensembles and small vocal ensembles, this time Ignacio Prego (harpsichord), Concerto Scirocco, Recercare Early Music Ensemble, Orlando Vocal Ensemble, Anima Consort, Budapest Bach Consort, Dador Project, Sebastian Consort and Vivaldi Ensemble.
Tickets, further information: www.vrn.hu

Early Music Days in Vác from 2 to 9 July 2022, supported by the Haydneum

During the first week of July, the Filharmonia Hungary will evoke everyday and festive moments of the Baroque era for the 38th time with magical concerts and a real festival atmosphere. With the greatest professors of the profession, unparalleled courses and fantastic concerts, it awaits students and audiences who love the music of the Baroque. This year the festival will focus on French Baroque music. There will be singing, harpsichord, viola da gamba, Baroque dance and expression, articulation and performance, vocal ensemble, violin, flute, flute and bassoon, cello, as well as chamber music and orchestra masterclasses led by some of the most distinguished national and international professors.

In the opening concert, the Haydneum’s resident ensembles, the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra, conducted by György Vashegyi, will perform works by the French composer Lalande, while the closing concert will feature a selection of works by Charpentier and Desmarets by the Ensemble les Surpsises orchestra and choir, on both concerts with an international soloist ensemble.

For more information: www.regizeneinapok.hu

In cooperation with the Haydneum, the Authentic Quartet will give a concert on the Night of Museums programme of the National Széchényi Library on 25 June from 17:40 in the 6th floor of the Museum.

The first Haydneum Festival of Sacred Music has come to an end with a great success

In 10 days, 7 concerts in Budapest and 4 in the countryside, a recording, 10 ensembles, 19 soloists, 5 conductors, and so many unforgettable experiences!  Thank you for joining us - we will continue next year! 

A photo report of the festival moments.

Photo: Pilvax Films

Press conference - Haydneum Festival of Sacred Music - 3-12 June 2022

The Haydneum will hold its first Festival of Sacred Music in Budapest from 3 to 12 June 2022, at the University Church and Inner-City St. Michael’s Church.

The Haydneum – Hungarian Centre for Early Music was founded in 2021 as a new institution to promote the values of Early Music in Hungary and to promote the Hungarian Baroque, Viennese Classical and early Romantic repertoire (1630-1830). To this end, it provides opportunities for Hungarian and international performers, both old and modern, to promote the Haydneum repertoire at its own festivals. The Festival of Sacred Music features mainly Hungarian performers, including the institution’s resident ensembles (the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra under the artistic direction of György Vashegyi), Capella Savaria conducted by the world-famous Nicholas McGegan, the Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra, Capella Du Mont (artistic director: László Gesztesi-Tóth) with the Savaria Baroque Orchestra conducted by Pál Németh, the Erdődy Chamber Orchestra and the Hungarian Choir of the Kodály Zoltán Hungarian Choir School conducted by Márton Rácz, the Aura Musicale, and the Children’s Choir of the Versailles Baroque Music Centre (Les Pages du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles) conducted by Fabien Armengaud. These excellent ensembles will be joined by a promising line-up of soloists, including Adriána Kalafszky, Viola Thurnay, Zoltán Megyesi, Ákos Borka, Eugénie Lefèbvre, Gwendoline Blondeel, Paulin Bündgen, Mária Lőkösházi and Ágnes Kovács.

The concerts, which start at 8pm, will include works by Michael and Joseph Haydn, Pergolesi, Werner and Albrechtsberger, as well as special programmes, The Savaria Baroque Orchestra will perform a selection from the collection of sacred music of the Bodajki Help of Our Lady of Bodaj, Balázs Máté and Aura Musicale will play Strattner-Capricornus-Esterházy, and the Erdődy Chamber Orchestra will perform Druschetzky-Lickl-Hummel.

The first four concerts of the festival will be performed in Szeged, Pécs, Veszprém and Békéscsaba, in the framework of the Con Spirito Church Music Festival of Filharmonia Hungary, our partner.

(Photo: Miklós Teknős)

Haydneum Festival of Sacred Music 3-12 June 2022, Budapest

Haydneum organises its first Festival of Sacred Music in Budapest, in the University Church and in the Inner-City Church of Saint Michael between 3 and 12 June .

The Festival of Sacred Music will primarily feature Early Music performers from Hungary, such as Haydneum’s resident ensembles, the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra under György Vashegyi’s artistic leadership, Capella Savaria conducted by the worldwide celebrated Nicholas McGegan, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Capella Du Mont, Savaria Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Pál Németh, the Erdődy Chamber Orchestra, the Mixed Choir of the Zoltán Kodály Hungarian Choir School with Márton Rácz as conductor, the Aura Musicale, as well as Les Pages du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles (children’s choir) under the leadership of Fabien Armengaud. The concerts held without an intermission and starting at 8 o’clock will feature works by Michael and Joseph Haydn, Pergolesi, Hummel, Strattner, Esterházy, Caldara, Rathgeber, Brixi, Bengráf, Chrio, Werner and Albrechtsberger. Some of the concerts will be preceded by music historical discussions, thanks to which the audience can listen to familiar and yet unknown compositions enriched with new information.

(Photo: István Oravecz)

Leclair: Scylla et Glaucus

Another collaboration between the Haydneum and the Liszt Academy of Music, the Orfeo Music Foundation and the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles,  this time for a joint production of Jean-Marie Leclair's opera "Scylla et Glaucus",  to be performed and recorded at the Liszt Academy between 24 and 26 March 2022.

@Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France

Cherubini: Les Abencérages

In cooperation between French and Hungarian institutions and with the support of the Haydneum, a performance and recording of Cherubini's Les Abencérages will take place in March 2022 at Müpa Budapest.

Casimir Eloy en troubadour (Les Abencérages de Cherubini)

Cooperation between the National Széchényi Library and the Haydneum

The National Széchényi Library's Digitisation Centre has been inaugurated, marking the beginning of a major collaboration between the National Széchényi Library and the Haydneum.

The National Széchényi Library has today inaugurated the largest and most modern digitisation facility of any public collection in Central Europe, capable of digitising 10 million pages per year and all types of documents in the library.

The aim of the collaboration between the OSZK and the Haydneum – Hungarian Centre for Early Music is to use the new digitisation centre to process, with the participation of Haydneum staff, musical and musicological remains of great cultural value from 1600 to 1850 in Hungary.

The Esterházy Collection, one of the most valuable holdings of the OSZK’s theatre and music library, contains manuscript scores of composers from the 18th to 19th centuries, including Haydn, Werner, Albrechtsberger and others. In the course of the cooperation, we plan to make the Early music scores and documents preserved in the OSZK available in digital form, and in line with our basic mission, these newly discovered works will soon be available in concert halls and on recordings, so that they can be presented to the general public.

Hungarian Centre for Early Music

The aim of the Haydneum is to champion the merits of early music in Hungary and popularise the Hungarian-linked repertoire from the Baroque, Viennese Classical and early romantic periods (1630-1830).

Eszterháza and Haydn

The Esterházy Palace in Fertőd-Eszterháza is the only location in modern-day Hungary that is circled in red ink on the map of eighteenth-century European music history. Joseph Haydn worked there for almost half of his active life, from 1766 to 1790, and during that period he spent most of every year there in the service of Prince Nicholas Esterházy I ‘the Magnificent’.

Haydneum repertoire

The repertoire of Haydneum combines two different aspects of the Hungary-related Baroque, Classical and early Romantic musical heritage. First, it covers works composed in Hungary (partly by Hungarian composers) at the time and a wealth of  17th, 18th and 19th-century compositions written in other countries but preserved in Hungarian libraries and archives.