The legendary conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner is coming to lead the Festival Orchestra for the first time. The holder of an honorary doctorate from Budapest‘s Liszt Academy and a multiple Grammy Award-winner, he first became globally renowned for his performances of early music, but he also delights in exploring the world of Romanticism. Whether conducting Haydn or Sibelius, he works with “unstoppable energy” (The Guardian) – and it is precisely these two composers this programme focusses on. Although the two composers may appear to have little in common, the duality of love for one‘s homeland and a cosmopolitan worldview runs like a guiding thread throughout the evening. The centrepiece is Haydn’s London triumph – the symphony he composed after finally freeing himself from decades of service at the Esterházy court, while the concert concludes with a Sibelius symphony inspired by a trip to Italy. As an overture, the musicians of the Budapest Festival Orchestra will once again demonstrate their skills as a choir, performing the Finnish composer’s heart-rending song, Sydämeni laulu (Song of My Heart).

Presented by: Budapest Festival Orchestra