In addition to Mozart’s famous “Haffner” Symphony, both of his symphonies concertantes as well as excerpts from the fragmentary opera Lo sposo deluso (The Deluded Bridgeroom) make up the programme of the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra’s concert on 1 February 2026. The concert features vocal soloists Gabriella Balga, Péter Balczó, Botond Pál, and Bence Pataki, orchestral soloists Alexandre Anatolii Dimcevski, Haruka Nagao, Nóra Salvi, Balázs Rumy, Bálint Fábry, and Péter Lakatos, under the baton of principal guest conductor Péter Halász.
In Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s music, an affinity for the human voice can be detected even when he is composing for instruments. This idea is underscored by one of the season’s highlighted symphonic concerts dedicated to the composer, where operatic and orchestral works are presented side by side. A special feature of the concert is that both of Mozart’s sinfonias concertantes will be performed. This genre, interpretable as a fusion of symphony and concerto, began to take shape in the 1770s. Mozart encountered it during his European tours in his early twenties and soon tried his hand at it himself.
Of the two three-movement works written in E-flat major, the sinfonia concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra features solo instruments that engage in dialogue with one another while never sharply separating from the orchestral texture. A particular curiosity of the evening is that the two solo instruments will be performed by the OPERA Orchestra’s concertmaster couple, Alexandre Anatolii Dimcevski and Haruka Nagao, whose close musical partnership with each other and with the ensemble promises an exceptional experience.
The sinfonia concertante for four winds is a true mystery: Mozart’s original work has been lost, and although the manuscript discovered nearly 90 years later bears Mozartian traits in several details, its instrumentation and other stylistic features evoke later periods. Despite these doubts, it is both a rare and exciting opportunity to hear four wind instruments of distinct character in solo roles at once. The orchestra soloists in this work are Nóra Salvi (principal oboe), Balázs Rumy (principal clarinet), Bálint Fábry (principal bassoon), and Péter Lakatos (principal horn).
With operatic connections in mind, the concert begins with the overture and quartet from Mozart’s unfinished stage work Lo sposo deluso. In the two-part overture, the lively music typical of comic opera later gives way to a slower section featuring one of the most beautiful flute solos in Mozart’s oeuvre. This is followed by the brisk quartet “Ah, ah che ridere,” in which laughter itself becomes a musical motif as the characters repeatedly interrupt one another. In this humour-filled excerpt, which will also come to life on stage later in the month in the pasticcio opera L'oca del Cairo, ossia Lo sposo deluso, the original version is evoked by Gabriella Balga (Bettina), Péter Balczó (Pulcherio), opera studio member Botond Pál (Don Asdrubale), and Bence Pataki (Bocconio).
The concert concludes with the famous “Haffner” Symphony. Mozart originally wrote the piece as a serenade for the ennoblement of Sigmund Haffner, a young member of a wealthy Salzburg family that supported his early career, later reworking it into a symphony by omitting two movements. Composed at the same time as the comic opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, the symphony bears traces of that work’s influence as well: elements of the finale show kinship with Osmin’s gallows aria and with the overture to Le nozze di Figaro.
At the Golden Age: Mozart concert, the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra will be conducted by principal guest conductor Péter Halász. A seasoned interpreter of Mozart’s music, he returns to the Viennese Classical composer’s oeuvre following last year’s series of Die Zauberflöte.
