Haydneum Festival of Sacred Music – MIXED CHOIR OF THE ZOLTÁN KODÁLY HUNGARIAN CHOIR SCHOOL, ERDŐDY CHAMBER ORCHESTRA – Druschetzy, Lickl, Hummel

The fifth concert in the Haydneum Festival of Sacred Music is devoted to composers whose careers were associated with Hungarian music life for extended periods. Czech Georg Druschetzky (1745–1819) resided first in Austria for a quarter of a century before spending more than 30 years living and composing in Hungary. He studied in Bratislava and Pest, he was an oboist, virtuoso timpanist and military musician, then from the late 1790s and for two decades he played a leading role in the music life of Pest-Buda as court musician to Palatine Joseph. Johann Georg Lickl – otherwise János György Lickl – (1769–1843) was born in Kronenburg in Lower Austria. He studied in Vienna under Joseph Haydn and Albrechtsberger. He was appointed organist of the Leopoldstadt Carmelite Church, he worked for Theater auf der Wieden and wrote several Singspiele with Emanuel Schikaneder. He was active as choirmaster at the cathedral of Pécs from 1807 until his death. Austrian pianist, composer and conductor Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778–1837) was born in Bratislava and as a child he studied with Mozart in Vienna for two years, indeed, he also lived with him. Between 1804 and 1811, while still young and before taking up residence in Weimar, he served the Esterhazys in Kismarton alongside Haydn. The concert’s vocal soloists, Mária Lőkösházi, Anna Molnár, Zoltán Megyesi and Szabolcs Hámori, represent several age cohorts on today’s domestic vocalist scene. The Mixed Choir of the Kodály Zoltán Hungarian Choir School under the leadership of Ferenc Sapszon approach music in the spirit of their eponym. Erdődy Chamber Orchestra founded by violinist Zsolt Szefcsik in 1994 are conducted by Márton Rácz, a prominent representative of the historical performance practice in Hungary.