“We are happy to give several concerts for our audiences. It is a challenging task both in terms of performance and organisation, but it is also a pleasure to see and hear the audience after each concert – the company was applauded for minutes after each concert”, Dániel Erdélyi, Junior Prima award-winning conductor of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics Symphony Orchestra said after the December advent performances.
The centrepiece of this year’s December concerts was Psalmus Hungaricus, composed by Zoltán Kodály exactly 100 years ago, in 1923. Soloists worthy of the centenary István Kovácsházi and Barna Bartos accepted the orchestra’s invitation, and in addition, four choirs joined to perform together, adding to the splendour of the advent concerts at BME.
In the first part of the concert, the ensemble performed a light, advent-like piece by the contemporary English composer John Rutter, entitled “Look at the World”, which was not played by BME’s Symphony Orchestra before. Dániel Erdélyi told us that he chose the piece because it is easy to sing, easy to play, and also because it somewhat counterbalances the Kodály piece. In an interview with bme.hu, he explained that this year’s programme was compiled by starting and finishing with two well-known pieces in addition to the lesser-known Kodály/Rutter pieces. They were the overture to Rossini’s William Tell, followed in the second half of the concert by suites with the best-known melodies from Bizet’s opera Carmen.
Regarding the repertoire chosen for the end-of-year event, he shared that since he has been running the university’s orchestra, he has made sure that they do not perform pieces that have been played in the past 10 years. Fortunately, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting the concert pieces. “Our orchestra is 127 years old this year, which is long enough to perform a work several times. We have members who have already performed some of these pieces previously.”
Dániel Erdélyi said that in recent years they have also tried to ensure that a well-rehearsed show is performed more than once. There are several reasons for this. “On the one hand, we want to please our audience which is growing every year, and on the other hand, I think it’s very important that when we practice a larger, more difficult show for months, we don’t perform it ‘only’ once. This is important for our musicians,” the conductor stressed, adding that the company is always happy and enthusiastic to fill the hall of the Central Building with music.
The orchestra has had a successful past six months, with preparations going according to the plans and expectations. The university’s leadership plays an important part in this, providing the right conditions for their rehearsals and concerts. There is also a steady flow of new orchestra members: many of them have successfully applied and are now playing.
The company is starting the next year with new and ambitious plans. They applied for the music festival, held in Belfort every year on Pentecost. The Budapest University of Technology and Economics Symphony Orchestra has already participated in this prestigious event several times, and Dániel Erdélyi hopes that they will be invited to represent Hungary and BME at the festival next year.
Their spring programme has already been put together and will include works by Hungarian composers. It will be performed at the May concert for the audience at BME: Grieg: Peer Gynt – Suite No.1, Zoltán Kodály: Peacock Variations, Robert Schumann: Symphony No.4.
BME’s Symphony Orchestra will be responding to several concert requests in the near future. On 16 December, Zoltán Kodály’s birthday, they will perform Psalmus Hungaricus in the Pozsonyi street church of the Reformed Parish in Budapest. In January they will play at an event in Várkert (Castle Garden) Bazaar, and in March at a church concert.
