The programme of the musicians of the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra on 6 November 2025 spans from Baroque to contemporary Hungarian composers, inviting the audience to the Opera House’s Medgyaszay Room. The theme of the first event in this intimate series is the flute family, featuring not only popular classical pieces but also works with a jazzy character.
The Medgyaszay Chamber Evenings series is designed to be shaped by a specific group of instruments or a central theme at each concert. The organisers invite the audience to relaxed, conversational evenings where they can enjoy popular works, discover melodious contemporary pieces, and even have the chance to interact with the artists.
The series, held in the recently renovated Medgyaszay Room located in the attic of the Opera House, opens with a concert centred around the flute family. The flute is one of the oldest instruments, and its distinctive tone greatly depends on the performer, making it the closest instrument to the human voice. Its flexibility, rich timbre, delicacy, and virtuosic runs endow it with exceptional expressive power.
The evening features Trio Flauticello performing arrangements by Dóra Gjorgjevic, including excerpts from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and Bizet’s Carmen, as well as John Williams’s Cantina Band from Star Wars and Astrud Gilberto’s bossa nova classic The Girl from Ipanema.
The Baroque period is represented by two well-known works by Bach: Polonaise and Badinerie from Suite No. 2, along with the chorale Jesus bleibet meine Freude. The audience can also hear a jazz-inspired version of the suite excerpt. The Romantic era is evoked by one of the most famous works in the flute repertoire, Pastoral Sounds by Ferenc Doppler, a former flautist of the National Theatre Orchestra in Pest, as well as by the lyrical and dynamic third and fourth movements of César Franck’s Sonata in A Major. The contemporary section offers exciting contrasts, including Techno Parade by French composer Guillaume Connesson, a piece demanding extraordinary virtuosity and drawing inspiration from electronic pop music with its pulsating rhythms, and Fireflies by Dutch-American film composer Herman Beeftink. Hungarian composers are represented by Reminiscences of Árpád Tóth, a two-movement work by Zoltán Kovács (Erkel Prize-winning composer and principal bassoonist of the OPERA Orchestra), and Halyn by Tímea Dragony (Liszt Prize-winning composer). The programme also pays tribute to the late József Sári (Kossuth and Erkel Prize-winning composer) with his Twilight Birdsong, written for piccolo.
Performers include the flautists of the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Evelin Balog, Berta Bánki, Dóra Gjorgjevic, Boglárka Dávid, Krisztina Molnár, János Rácz, Kata Scheuring, Zsuzsanna Szűcs-Ittzés, and Zsuzsánna Vargáné Menyhárt, alongside Péter Boldoghy-Kummert (cello, double bass), Elina Harsányi, Márta Kisfaludy, and Zita Novák (violin), Jenő Sörös (viola), Balázs Rumy (clarinet), Orsolya Nagy and Júlia Szilvásy (harp), János Tóth (drums), Gergely Kovács, Zoltán Lengyel, Rita Termes, and Sámuel Csaba Tóth (director of the Orchestra and host of the evening) on piano, and opera singer Ildikó Megyimórecz.
The Medgyaszay Chamber Evenings series not only offers exciting musical delicacies for the audience but also holds immense value for the orchestral musicians of the Hungarian State Opera. Performing in smaller ensembles enhances mutual sensitivity, gives musicians opportunities for greater virtuosity and interpretive responsibility, and ultimately has a positive effect on their orchestral work. Participation in chamber concerts also expresses the performers’ dedication to both their musical community and the OPERA as an institution.
Beyond their presence, audiences of the Medgyaszay Chamber Evenings also support the OPERA’s ensemble in another way: proceeds from the discounted tickets will be used by the end of the season to purchase a new instrument, an E-flat clarinet, for the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra.
