Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Seasons is one of the most important works in European music history, and also one of the composer's last completed large-scale compositions (followed chronologically only by the Harmoniemesse among his later masses). The composition of this magnum opus, by the composer's own admission, used up an extraordinary amount of energy, all but exhausting the aging master's remaining strength. The work is of unparalleled importance in the context of music history. Just ...as The Creation, Haydn's great German-language oratorio that preceded The Seasons, essentially set the final seal on the 18th century, this later work paves the way to the 19th century. The art of almost every significant composer of the German Romantic period to come - from Mendelssohn to Schumann, and from Brahms to Wagner - finds its starting point in the late masterpiece of the almost 70-year-old Haydn.
This work has also played a prominent role in the history of the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra. The coming of age of the two ensembles I founded dates back to around the time in 2003 when we first had the chance to perform this extraordinary score in the Catholic church of Fertőszentmiklós. Since then, scarcely a year has passed in which we have not encountered the work anew, and it was a great honour for us to be able to present it in 2013 and 2014 - under the batons of Helmuth Rilling and René Jacobs respectively - at the New Year's Concert in the Palace of Arts. This evening - in the performance of the now 25-year-old Purcell Choir - we are delighted to present it once again in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall. (György Vashegyi)
Presented by: Sysart Kft. - Orfeo Music Foundation
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
Refreshments – Without the Queue
Thanks to our new catering service at the Átrium Snack Bar, you can forget about waiting in line during intermissions for some refreshments and get your order prepped especially for you by the time the intermission actually starts. Find out more about pre-ordering here.
Safe ticket purchase
Dear Visitors, please note that only tickets purchased from the Müpa website and official ticket offices are guaranteed to be valid. To avoid possible inconvenience, we suggest buying tickets to our performances and concerts via the mupa.hu website, the Interticket national network (jegy.hu) or at our official ticket offices.