When Ernő Dohnányi, then music director of Hungarian Radio, raised his conductor’s baton on 7 October 1943, it signalled – as one contemporary newspaper described it – “not only the opening bars of a concert at the House of Hungarian Culture, and through microphones to a hundred thousand radio sets, but also the realisation of a long-planned and ultimately successful innovation in radio.” The concert held at the one-time People’s Opera, later renamed the City Theatre and eventually the Erkel The...atre as it is known today, marked the day of the Radio Orchestra’s birth, with a programme featuring Les Préludes by Franz Liszt, Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor (with Julian von Károlyi as soloist), the Symphonic Minutes by Dohnányi himself, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 – all truly grandiose works of music. News bulletins of the time stress that this was a production of no mere occasional ensemble, but of a full-blooded orchestral company (radio orchestra). From this momentous beginning, the orchestra announced a series of ten concerts: although the second in the series was duly held, the remainder fell victim to the war. The first concert in the jubilee season ticket series of the MR Symphonics evokes the ensemble’s illustrious première by featuring the same programme of music, naturally including one of Dohnányi’s most brilliant scores. Enthusing over the composer’s Symphonic Minutes after its première, music critic Aladár Tóth wrote: “This delightful little bagatelle is harmonious, finely shaped and graceful throughout, and where it is mischievous or whimsical, there too it retains all of its sing-song character; its wit is at the same time impassioned, making it the kind of divertimento that both entertains the mind and invigorates the spirit. It captivates and liberates.” Presented by: MR Music Groups
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.