1-day Mozart Festival of the Concerto Budapest | Artistic Director: András Keller | Host: András Batta
Mozart: Maurerische Trauermusik, K. 477
Mozart: Symphony Concertante in E-flat major, K. 364
András Keller violin, Máté Szűcs viola
Mozart: Great Mass in C minor, K. 491
New Franz Liszt Chamber Choir (artistic direcor: László Norbert Nemes), Gabriella Balga soprano, Katalin Szutrély soprano, Zoltán Megyesi tenor, Lóránt Najbauer bass
Concerto Budapest
Conductor: Gábor Takács-Nagy
It was not just in The Magic Flute that Mozart paid tribute to Freemasonry. The outer sections of the funeral music he wrote in memory of two lodge brothers are in the deeply mournful key of C minor, while the central section, which incorporates a medieval melody, is in E-flat major. His Sinfonia Concertante not only features the violin and viola as well-balanced soloists, they also play an equal role within the ensemble itself thanks to the divided violas. Despite the dark key of C minor, Mozart’s unfinished Great Mass was composed during one of the most positive periods of his life. From the French overture style through to counterpoint techniques and ornamentation, numerous elements of the work were inspired by Baroque traditions.
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Year after year since 2018, Concerto Budapest has dedicated a day-long series of concerts to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the eternal favourite of classical music, or rather to our shared and unquenchable passion for Mozart. And so it is on the first Sunday in March 2026.
"This day will stay with me for the rest of my life as a bright, clear and beautiful memory. The magic of Mozart's music still rings in my ears, as if from a distance."
This is what Franz Schubert wrote two hundred years ago about a day spent listening to the music of his great and much admired predecessor, and it is a good chance that we will all remember this Mozartian Sunday in the same way.
