Joseph HAYDN: La fedeltà premiata – overture
Joseph HAYDN: Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIlb:2
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Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART: Divertimento in D major, KV. 251
Joseph HAYDN: Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor (“Farewell”), Hob. I:45

Arne Zeller cello (winner of first prize in the 2025 Budapest International Cello Competition)
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Dániel Dinyés

The two orchestral works that bookend this concert – the overture to Joseph Haydn’s (1732–1809) opera La fedeltà premiata and his Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor, also known as “Farewell” – are compositions of highly contrasting character. The sparkling introductory music to the 1781 comic opera radiates cheerfulness, while the 1772 symphony is a restless work typical of the Sturm und Drang period. During its famous final movement, the musicians leave the stage one by one until only two remain – with this device, Haydn drew the attention of Prince Nikolaus I Esterházy (“The Magnificent”) to the discontent of the musicians, who had been kept away from their families for too long. The Cello Concerto in D major, the authenticity of which was long debated, is the considerably younger sibling – by nearly a quarter of a century – of Hadyn’s C major concerto in the same genre. Thought to have been written for the Esterházy orchestra’s cellist Antonín Kraft, it is a sunny, energetic composition full of representative virtuosity. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s six-movement Divertimento in D major (K. 251) was composed in Salzburg in 1776, probably for the birthday of the composer’s sister Nannerl. Representing the youngest generation of cellists, the German Arne Zeller (b. 2006) is a graduate of the Kronberg Academy and winner of the 2025 Budapest International Cello Competition. The conductor for this concert, Dániel Dinyés graduated in composition from the Liszt Academy in 2005 and has collaborated with the Hungarian National Philharmonic for many years.