Thinking about the church music of the future, the young Franz Liszt believed that it would "sum up both the Theatre and the Church on a colossal scale. It would be at once both dramatic and sacred, stately and simple, moving and solemn, fiery and unruly, tempestuous yet calm, serene and gentle." When his oratorio Christ premiered at the Budapest Opera House in 1938, a critic commended it with the words: "Liszt was a boundless soul –a boundless fan of Christ. That is why the oratorio managed to be so sincere and ethereal. Almost the music of the heavenly realm. In it, all the spiritual beauty of St. Francis of 19th-century music is manifested.” This monumental work – with the participation of Hungarian, Austrian, Slovak and Swiss solo singers-will be performed twice as part of the programme of the Liszt Festival: first on the stage of the Musikverein in Vienna, and a few days later at Müpa, with Gergely Kesselyák as the conductor of both events.

Hungarian National Choir

Founded in 1985 as the Hungarian State Choir, the group has become Hungary’s leading vocal ensemble, whose primary mission is to perform compositions with orchestral accompaniment and oratorios, though it is naturally also at home in the world of a cappella works. In 1990, the first choirmaster, Miklós Pászti, was followed by Mátyás Antal, who filled the position until 2016. The current choirmaster is Csaba Somos. When it comes to creating its repertoire, contemporary works are of particular importance for the National Choir. They have been involved in the world or Hungarian premiere of many a work, including Zoltán Jeney’s Funeral Rite and György Kurtág’s Songs of Despair and Sorrow.

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

The concert is made possible with the support of the Ministry for Social Relations and Culture.

The programme is supported by the Hungarian Tourism Agency.