At its season-opening concert on 25 September, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra pays tribute to the most important milestones of Hungarian musical culture and history. As a special highlight of the evening – in memory of Bartók Béla and historic anniversaries – conducted by Kovács János, the orchestra gives the world premiere of Kósa György’s previously banned Symphony No. 7, together with a masterpiece each by Sugár Rezső and Bartók Béla.
Like its predecessor, the Hungarian State Concert Orchestra, the National Philharmonic has held its season-opening concert on 25 September for many decades. The date is a vigil: the eve of the anniversary in music history that commemorates the death of Bartók Béla. Bartók died in exile in New York on 26 September 1945, at the age of sixty-four. The tradition refers to this and, in a broader sense, also pays tribute to Hungarian musical culture as a whole: at the season opening, the nation’s orchestra turns to the treasures of Hungarian music.
This September, the tradition takes on special relevance: 2026 marks the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Mohács (1526), and the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Revolution and War of Independence is celebrated in the same year. The coincidence of these dates suggested that the season opening should feature a work connected with both historic events, one that could not be performed publicly in communist Hungary for political reasons and then fell into oblivion for decades – so the audience will now hear its world premiere. Kósa György composed his Symphony No. 7, subtitled “Mohács”, in 1957, a year after the 1956 revolution.
When the composer depicted, through his themes, the historical catastrophe of several centuries earlier, he was in fact working through the fresh trauma of the revolution of the previous year, 1956, which had been crushed in blood. In 1957, at the time of the reprisal trials and executions, Symphony No. 7 thus sent a coded message to his contemporaries. The cultural policy of the day understood the signal and did not allow the piece to be premiered. It now comes to life sixty-nine years late, performed by the National Philharmonic under one of the finest and most experienced Hungarian conductors, Kovács János, paying homage to the heroes of both 1526 and 1956.
The work performed in the second half does not mourn but celebrates. Sugár Rezső composed his oratorio Hunyadi – Heroic Song (Hunyadi – Hősi ének) in 1951 in honour of the victory at Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) in 1456. This opus was not placed on the banned list of communist cultural policy; on the contrary, it was performed every year for decades, but since the change of regime it has disappeared from the repertoire. The large-scale work is performed by a top-flight cast: the four vocal soloists Brassói-Jőrös Andrea, Schöck Atala, Kovácsházi István and Sándor Csaba, with Lux Ádám as narrator.
In the first half, following Kósa’s symphony, comes an early Bartók masterpiece: Violin Concerto No. 1, an exceptionally beautiful post-Romantic record of the young composer’s unrequited love for Geyer Stefi. The work will be played by Pusker Júlia, one of the finest representatives of the new generation of Hungarian violinists to have emerged in recent years.