Leipzig is the city of Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Wagner - an exciting spot in the history of music. The Gewandhaus Orchestra is one of the most important symphonic ensembles of all time, one linked to many legendary premières. Latvia's Andris Nelsons, the orchestra's current leader, has already demonstrated his exceptional skill in many parts of the world, from Bayreuth to Boston. Stepping in brilliantly to replace Yuja Wang as the virtuoso soloist for Shostakovich's concerto will be Japan's Mao Fujita.
Shostakovich composed his String Quartet No. 8 in C minor in 1960, during one of the darkest periods of his life, shortly after he was forced to join the Communist Party. According to a friend of his, the composer was often experiencing suicidal thoughts around this time and dedicated the piece to the memory of the victims of fascism and the war (Shostakovich's son said that his father actually intended it to commemorate all of the victims of totalitarian regimes from that time, not just the Sov...iet ones). Later on, the violist and conductor Rudolf Barshai arranged this work for chamber orchestra. It is almost like this work, full of hopelessness and depression, was not written by the same Shostakovich as the one who wrote his Piano Concerto No. 1 with its cavalcade of ideas and obbligato trumpet solo part as a 27-year-old genius much earlier. The sparkling, virtuoso piece is full of allusions, quotes and unexpected twists and turns - a celebration of unbridled talent. And since we are on the subject of joy, this is what Beethoven's Seventh is all about too: this vividly rhythmically pulsating work that Wagner called the "apotheosis of dance” pays homage to the archaic cult of movement and the spirit of sacred and elevated intoxication. The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, whose history dates back to 1743, achieved greatness in the 19th and 20th centuries under conductors like Arthur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Bruno Walter. Since 2018, they have been led by their current chief conductor, the exacting, versatile and evocative Andris Nelsons, the pride of Latvia. Their soloist, Yuja Wang, who was forced to cancel her appearance due to illness, has been replaced by Mao Fujita. Still only 23 years old, the Japanese pianist exploded onto the international concert scene with masterful victories at the 2017 Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland and the 2019 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Presented by: Müpa Budapest
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.
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