György Kósa (1897–1984) deliberately chose the theme for his Symphony No. 7 as the battle of Mohács. Composed a year after 1956 and hitherto never performed, it makes a veiled allusion to one of the great cataclysms of Hungary’s more recent history. Béla Bartók’s (1881–1945) Violin Concerto No. 1 (1907/1908) is the post-romantic imprint of the young composer’s unrequited love for the violinist Stefi Geyer. Rezső Sugár’s (1919–1988) magnum opus, the oratorio Hunyadi – Heroic Song (1951), does not lament defeat but rather celebrates triumph in paying homage to the figure of János Hunyadi, the victor over the Turks at Nándorfehérvár. Júlia Pusker is a leading figure among the younger generation of Hungarian violinists, Andrea Brassói-Jőrös, Atala Schöck, István Kovácsházi and Csaba Sándor are versatile luminaries of the Hungarian singing community. Meanwhile, János Kovács is one of our most knowledgeable and exacting conductors.

Presented by: Hungarian National Philharmonic