Dubrovay 80

László Dubrovay has composed more than two hundred works, including operas, ballets, as well as orchestral, chamber, solo and choral pieces, electronic and computer music. He is an experimenter and an explorer, equally receptive to new combinations of instruments and to the elaboration of their sound. His musical style has matured over many years of work, and his popular music is understood, felt and loved by audiences. This celebratory concert, with world stars, will feature four captivating and exciting Dubrovay works, often performed on stages around the world.

NEW YEAR’S CONCERT 2022 – ENCORE

Our traditional New Year’s concert is sold out, so we are announcing an Encore Concert starting at 11am the same day.

PROKOFIEV MARATHON

Every year since 2008, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Müpa Budapest have put on an all-day marathon production presenting the very best work of a given composer, with a series of consecutive concerts from morning until late evening in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall and the Festival Theatre. From Bach and Brahms to Bartók and Bernstein, many prominent composers have taken the starring role on these days – with Beethoven already serving twice, for example. The 2023 marathon will focus on Sergei Prokofiev, who passed away 70 years ago. The Russian composer wrote exciting symphonies, concertos, chamber compositions and piano pieces, among other works.

PLÁCIDO DOMINGO

For more than 60 years, world-famous opera singer Plácido Domingo has been enchanting music lovers around the world with his distinctive and emotive voice. Hungarian audiences will be able to hear him at MVM Dome on 4 March 2023. The motto of the singer-conductor, who is still very active at the age of 82 is ‘If I rest, I rust’. Ever thought of stopping to sing? He has been asked this many times, in many places, and his answer is still unchanged: ‘I will not sing one day longer than I should. But I will not sing a day less than I am capable of.’

The Spanish superstar has a special relationship with Hungary, where he often visits. He is an international mentor and supporter of the Virtuosos, the Hungarian classical music talent show; and Maestro Domingo not only meets the young talents frequently, but the lucky youngsters have already had the opportunity to perform in several international concerts conducted by him. What’s more, in 2020, he was also on the jury of the talent show that was broadcast in five countries.

The concert in March 2023 will feature classical and best-known operatic works, where Plácido Domingo will be accompanied by Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra. A special feature of the evening will be the guest performance by the winners and special prize winners of the 2022 Virtuosos Talent Show.

The Best of Goran Bregović

As the guitarist for Bijelo Dugme, one of the most famous rock bands Yugoslavia ever produced, Goran Bregović had already written his name in the history of South Slavic pop music, but his career only moved up from there, primarily through his work creating soundtracks for the films of Emir Kusturica. Time of the Gypsies (1988), Arizona Dream (1993) and Underground (1995) all catapulted him to the first echelon of cinematic composers. This makes for a highly diverse oeuvre, and now we will get to hear his most popular songs performed here in Hungary not only with his own band, but also presented in symphonic arrangements with the Budafok Dohnanyi Orchestra.

Bijelo Dugme was Yugoslavia’s most popular rock band, and the vast majority of their songs were written by Bregović right from the start, making him responsible for many of the country’s hits from the ’70s and ’80s. Back then, though, he still hardly suspected that one day he would get the chance to write songs for his heroes and other greats, artists like Iggy Pop, Cesária Évora and Scott Walker. Although he had already written a film score or two during the band’s existence, after they broke up this is the genre he focused on the most, and the music in Time of the Gypsies, directed by Kusturica, immediately boosted his career internationally. Since then, he has recorded dozens of soundtracks, released several joint albums (for example, with Sezen Aksu, George Dalaras and Kayah) in many styles ranging from Balkan and Gypsy music to Greek songs, and with his group Goran Bregović & his Wedding and Funeral Band he has also visited the world’s major concert stages. These include Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and, in Paris, the Olympia. At Müpa Budapest, we have been able to watch and hear them six times, with their various projects: Carmen (2007), Alkohol (2009), Margot (2010, 2011) and Sarajevo (2014, 2017). What he is bringing this time is a “best of” show, for which symphonic arrangements have been created for his most popular songs. Here in Hungary, they will be presented with the addition of the Budafok Dohnanyi Orchestra, conducted by Gábor Hollerung.

The Golden Age of Paris – CZIFFRA FESTIVAL 2023

The 2023 Cziffra Festival concert will feature highly acclaimed works by composers of the eponymous artist’s second home country, France. The concert promises to offer not only a first-rate musical experience, but also a true festival atmosphere and many moments of cheer and laughter. While the motifs of Carnival of the Animals ring in all our ears, by its sophisticated wit, the piece never fails to surprise us. This time, the musical surprises are complemented by a literary experience that is no less frivolous, as János Lackfi will be reading his poems written for the occasion, giving a voice to the main characters of the piece – chickens, swans, mules – or even pianists. Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra will be joined on stage by two other outstanding musicians: Kossuth Prize-winning János Balázs and the Italian Sandro De Palma, whose romantic artistic personality and versatile repertoire has conquered many stages of Europe, America and Japan.

Few people know that Bizet, the composer of the second work to be performed, was a child prodigy. At the age of just 17, he composed his surprisingly mature, fresh and lively Symphony in C major, in which the worlds of Mendelssohn, Gounod, Mozart and Rossini can also be detected. Yet the genius of the work lies in the individuality, wit and inventiveness of the composition whereby the young Bizet created an excellent piece with superb orchestration. Franck’s Symphonic Variations, on the other hand, is one of the compositions of the mature composer, meticulously worked out, not only for the greatness of its thematic development but also for the exemplary balance created between the orchestra and the solo piano. As is tradition, the exhilarating programme will be preceded by the presentation of the Georges Cziffra Festival prizes, which continue the eponymous artist’s commitment to talent promotion.

Rossini: Petite messe solennelle

Today, when hearing the name Gioacchino Rossini, everybody thinks of The Barber of Seville. Yet the most celebrated opera composer of the first quarter of the 19th century also composed musical pieces in other genres, and his most important works include two sacred compositions: Stabat mater and Petite messe solennelle (Little Solemn Mass). The latter was written in 1863-64, the last period of the composer’s career, when, after decades of physical and mental illness, he was ‘reborn’ in Paris, as his health had improved dramatically, his famous sense of humour had returned and he was composing again. He dedicated the mass to the consecration of the private chapel of a couple who belonged to his circle of friends. This explains the unusually small performing apparatus, which in the original version consists only of a 12-member choir, four soloists from the choir, two pianos and a harmonium. In our concert today, the work will be performed with a larger choir, accompanied by a piano and a harmonium.

The adjective “little” in the title of the mass can only refer to the number of the original performers, since the work, which consists of 14 movements and lasts more than 80 minutes, is anything but small. In addition to the standard, invariable parts of the mass, Rossini also composed the offertory music, entitled Preludio religioso, a purely instrumental movement, and later even inserted the hymn O salutaris hostia between the Sanctus-Benedictus and the Agnus Dei. The music of the mass is a mixture of styles: in addition to the arias, which are often very operatic, the chorus “Christe eleison” recalls the time of Palestrina, and the two choral fugues at the end of the Gloria and Credo are brilliant examples of baroque polyphony, the so-called ‘stile antico’.

With his characteristically sarcastic humour, the composer called his mass “the last mortal sin of my old age”, and in the original manuscript of the work he wrote a dedication not only to the countess but also to God: “Dear Lord, here it is finished, this poor little mass. Have I just written sacred music, or rather, sacrilegious music? I was born for opera buffa, as you well know.  Not much technique, a little bit of heart, that’s all. Blessings to you and grant me Paradise. G. Rossini. Passy 1863.”

ANDREA BOCELLI 2022

Az olasz tenort kettős tehetséggel áldotta meg a sors. Egyedi hangszíne bármely hang közül felismerhető, teljes és erőteljes, a belcantótól egészen a verismóig terjed, a lírai repertoártól a populáris balladákig. Az élet egy másfajta képességre is rávezette, amikor elvesztette látását. Szívével kezdett el látni a szeme helyett, ezért is tudja olyan tökéletesen érezni, láttatni és átadni dalainak mondanivalóját.
Karrierje példátlan sikertörténet, a legkedveltebb olasz hang a világon. A világszerte elismert művész nemcsak megszámlálhatatlan szakmai díjat tudhat magáénak, hanem a közönség határtalan szeretetét is. Több mint húsz éve tartó pályafutása során 90 millió lemezt adott el, meghódította a klasszikus és a popzenei csúcsokat. Fellépett a világösszes nagy koncerttermében és operaházában, számos nemzetközi rendezvényen, koncertet adott telt házas csarnokokban és énekelt pápáknak, elnököknek, királyoknak és királynőknek.

A mai napig a legnagyobb slágere a Con te partiro, melynek angol verziója, Sarah Brightmannel közös duettje a Time to say goodbye. A dal a megjelenésekor minden lemezeladási rekordot megdöntött, a fél világon hónapokig vezette a slágerlistákat és amellyel elindult a “Bocelli-jelenség”. A folyamatos koncertezések, előadások mellett szinte minden évben új albummal is jelentkezik. Olyan kiváló énekesekkel dolgozott együtt, mint Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Celine Dion, Tony Bennett, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez és Nicole Scherzinger. Az elmúlt évben Matteo fiával a „Fall On Me” című számban duettezett, Virginia kislányával pedig Leonard Cohen “Hallelujah” című dalát énekelte el közösen.

A világhírű olasz énekes tavaly egy különleges húsvéti koncertet adotta koronavírus-járvány miatt az üres milánói dómból, amelyet online milliók néztek élőben. Megjelent a “Believe” című albuma, amelyen szerepel például egy duett Cecilia Bartoli operaénekesnővel, egy kiadatlan dal az olasz zeneszerzőtől, Ennio Morricone-tól vagy a Fatima című film záródala.

Fellépett a 2021-es labdarugó-Európa-bajnokság megnyitó ünnepségén Rómában, ahol Puccini „Nessun Dorma” című szerzeményét adta elő. Idén ősszel pedig az Amerikai Egyesült Államokban kezdte meg turnéját, amelyet jövőre Európában folytatja majd.

Bocelli személyében a világ egy legendát tudhat magáénak, aki 2022 őszén visszatér Budapestre, hogy hangjával újra elkápráztassa a magyar közönséget. A koncert programjában népszerű operarészletek és az ismert popalbumainak dalai szerepelnek, az este során pedig a Budafoki Dohnányi Zenekar és a Budapesti Akadémiai Kórustársaság kíséri majd.

CINEMUSIC – ENCORE

Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra‘s iconic CINEMUSIC concert with excellent film music, cinematic imagery, Gábor Hollerung‘s delightful introductions and suggestive conducting, offers a fully entertaining evening concert at Müpa Budapest. The orchestra will once again present a selection from the best hits of the film music repertoire, including music from the latest blockbusters as well as some evergreens.

The concert is recommended for children over 12.

Join our BDO Film Club to be the first to know about our upcoming film music concerts: https://www.facebook.com/groups/435512760983959

Rajkó 70 Jubilee Concert

Founded 70 years ago, in 1952, Rajkó Orchestra is the proud recipient of numerous awards, honours and titles. As a recent, particularly prestigious recognition, its special educational programme for Roma youth music education, the Rajko Method, was included in the national register of programmes and activities for the preservation of cultural and spiritual heritage. By its very nature, the orchestra is an ambassador of Hungarian culture.

In addition to traditional café gypsy music, Rajkó’s repertoire includes operetta, folk music and compositions by classical masters, especially when the latter are in some way connected to the tradition of gypsy music – thus Ferenc Liszt’s music has become an integral and important part of their repertoire.

The jubilee concert will feature renowned guest artists performing with the Orchestra, whereby the audience may enjoy the excellent performance of Jenő Lisztes on cimbalom and József Lendvay on violin. Pianist János Balázs will perform Ferenc Liszt’s Hungarian Fantasy, in which Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra will complement Rajkó Orchestra, also as guests of the evening. In addition, BDO will perform Zoltán Kodály’s Kálló Double Dance with the Budapest Academic Choral Society. The conductor of the evening will be Gábor Werner.

The concert is organised by Müpa Budapest as part of the Liszt Fest.