Since the pandemic, watching concerts online is no longer a rarity. But knowing where your preferences lie and where you can find them is a challenge. Music lovers are not taken by the hand and are certainly not inspired or advised when searching for performances. That is exactly what Symphony is set out to do.
Symphony is a new, highly-curated streaming video platform for symphonic music discovery, deepening the listener’s connection to symphonic music in collaboration with the finest orchestras from around the world. Symphony offers both die-hard orchestral music lovers and listeners curious about symphonic music all they need to dive in. Subscribers get a front row seat, as it were, but also a backstage pass: where they can access compelling stories behind the music and exclusive interviews with soloists and conductors.
“Discovery flourishes on Symphony with presentations by the best of the best orchestras and conductors from all around the world. The Budapest Festival Orchestra has a stellar reputation as one of the finest orchestras in the world, and we are thrilled to be working with them to co-produce this ‘Symphony Night Live’ performance,” says Rob Overman, Founder of Symphony. “Joining Symphony, The Budapest Festival Orchestra is now part of a global network of orchestras sharing their music with the world and democratizing access and discovery to new music.” By bundling the world’s leading orchestras on a single platform, Symphony wants to break down barriers between potential audiences and high-caliber orchestras. Other orchestras working with Symphony include the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
Each partnered orchestra will deliver four exclusive and unique live performances a year through ‘Symphony Night Live.’ More than a digital stream of a concert captured live, ‘Symphony Night Live’ offers historical context and lively storytelling around the music for a richer listening and viewing experience. On Friday, December 30, 2022, Symphony and the Budapest Festival Orchestra will air their next ‘Symphony Night Live’ program performing works from two of the most significant figures of the classical period: Haydn & Mozart. Music of the masters of Viennese classicism always sound full of vitality, freshness, and wit under the baton of Gábor Takács-Nagy. Instead of their usual cheerfulness, both Haydn’s first Sturm und Drang orchestral work and Mozart’s surprisingly serious and profound “Prague” symphony represent a darker and more tense atmosphere. In between these symphonies, BFO’s outstanding violinist Emese Gulyás and violist Péter Kostyál perform the solo parts of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante.
Live or digital, in-person or at-home – patrons can expect the same level of care and exceptional quality in every Budapest Festival Orchestra performance. The December 30 Haydn & Mozart episode is the second of four in collaboration of Budapest Festival Orchestra and Symphony. Launching their first Symphony Night Live event in October 2022 with a vibrant program featuring Andriessen’s Worker Union, Beethoven’s Symphony No.3 and Mozart’s double Piano Concerto. The upcoming events will premiere on February 25, 2023, featuring Mahler’s Symphony No.9 and on March 3, 2023, the Budapest Festival Orchestra will perform Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye Suite and Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No.3 with pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet under the baton of Louis Langrée.
