Johannes BRAHMS: Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny), Op. 54
Felix MENDELSSOHN: Hör’ mein Bitten, WoO 15
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Felix MENDELSSOHN: Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major (“Song of Praise” – “Lobgesang”), Op. 52

Polina Pasztircsák soprano
Lilla Horti soprano
Szabolcs Brickner tenor
Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos)
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Conductor: Csaba Somos

The Hungarian National Choir, one of the country’s leading professional choral groups, is turning 40 years old. Founded in 1986 by Miklós Pászti, its artistic activity has been directed by Csaba Somos since 2016. Conducted by its choirmaster, the choir will give a jubilee concert on the second evening of the Pászti season ticket, with one Brahms piece and two Mendelssohn works on the programme. Schicksalslied, the hymn Hör mein Bitten and the Symphony No. 2, also known as Lobgesang, are all rarely heard masterpieces that are always worth dusting off. The collaborators on the night are the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and three outstanding representatives of Hungary’s vocal elite: Polina Pasztircsák, Lilla Horti and Szabolcs Brickner.

For the 2025/2026 season, the Pászti season ticket of the Hungarian National Philharmonic includes not one but two anniversary concerts: after we paid tribute to our former choir director, the 80-year-old Mátyás Antal, in late October, the time will come in March for the ensemble itself to blow out the birthday candles, 40 of them in all. Founded in 1986 by the composer and choir director Miklós Pászti – then under the name of the Hungarian State Choir – the chorus, which later operated for a quarter of a century under the leadership of Mátyás Antal, is now preparing for its independent concerts and those with the Hungarian National Philharmonic under the baton of Csaba Somos, who has been its choir director since 2016. On the Brahms-Mendelssohn programme of the anniversary concert, we will hear rarely heard masterpieces in which the chorus has an important role to play. The evening will be crowned by the participation of the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, while the soloists Polina Pasztircsák, Lilla Horti and Szabolcs Brickner will represent the cream of our current crop of singers.

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Named after the founder and former leader of the Hungarian State Choir, the predecessor of the National Choir, the Pászti season ticket unsurprisingly offers a rich bounty of vocal music: early music and contemporary pieces, as well as a cappella works and oratorical masterpieces, all courtesy of composers from both Hungary and elsewhere.

Conducting the first concert will be Mátyás Antal, who headed the Hungarian National Choir for a quarter of a century and is turning 80 this year. After appropriately kicking off the occasion with Haydn’s 80th symphony, he will then go on to lead the ensemble in two legendary masterpieces: Bartók’s Cantata Profana and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. For the second concert, current choirmaster Csaba Somos invites music lovers on a journey through Italy with works (where either the composer or the theme is Italian) by Bruno Bettinelli, Pietro Clausetti, Morten Lauridsen, Jonathan Dove, Willem Jeths and Tamás Beischer-Matyó.

The third concert commemorates yet another birthday, this time that of the Hungarian National Choir itself, which to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its founding will perform – again with Somos wielding the baton – works by Brahms and Mendelssohn: the former’s Schicksalslied (“Song of Destiny”) and the latter’s anthem Hör’ mein Bitten and the massive but rarely heard Lobgesang, the “Song of Praise” catalogued as Mendelssohn’s second symphony. The soloists for this evening will be Polina Pasztircsák, Lilla Horti and Szabolcs Brickner.

The final event in the subscription will be truly sensational. The 2025/2026 season of the Hungarian National Philharmonic features several remarkable events, one of which is Massenet’s oratorio La Vierge, now being presented for the first time ever in Hungary, with György Vashegyi on the podium. Taking the stage to sing the title role will be the outstanding French mezzo-soprano Aude Extremo.