In the early 19th century, Europe was gripped by Dante fever. In Paris, for instance, where Delacroix's The Barque of Dante was exhibited in 1822, the Divine Comedy had to be reprinted 16 times in the first four decades of the century. Liszt did not escape Dante's influence, although it was only on his years of pilgrimage to Italy that he really became familiar with the Divine Comedy. In the 1840s, it was this work that inspired his Dante Sonata, while Eine Symphonie zu Dantes Divina Commedia fo...llowed in 1857. Liszt originally intended the Dante Symphony to extend to three movements, but Richard Wagner – with whom the composer discussed plans for the work and to whom it is dedicated – talked him out of writing Paradise. As a result, the Hell and Purgatory movement is followed by a closing Magnificat composed for a female choir and soprano soloist. Reacting to the tepid response received by his Symphony No. 1 at its premier in 1897, the young Rachmaninov suffered a breakdown and did not write another note for three years. It was a music-loving doctor and hypnotist who helped him out of the creative crisis. Buoyed by renewed self-confidence, Rachmaninov quickly set about writing his Symphony No. 2, which proved to be a resounding success at its Saint Petersburg premier in 1908. The composer even landed the Glinka award for the work. Listening to the symphony, one cannot help but agree with music historian Neville Cardus, who once wrote, “Rachmaninov was the last of the colourful Russian masters of the late 19th century, with their characteristic gift for long and broad melodies imbued with a resigned melancholy which is never long absent.”
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.
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.