In 2023, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the royal visit to Eszterháza by Empress Maria Theresa. Haydneum commemorates this visit with a concert series organized in various venues during the year. Without doubt, the highpoint of the series will be the Haydneum Eszterháza Festival organized for the first time between 1-6 September 2023, which takes place exactly 250 years after the visit, at the original location.
The organizers evoke this important event through the festival’s programme. For instance, the opening concert features Haydn’s opera L’infedeltà delusa, which was performed in the presence of Maria Theresa in September 1773, and had such an impact on the sovereign that – according to legend – she uttered the words that have since become famous: “If I want to hear good opera, I go to Eszterháza!”
Already before that, starting on July 21, concerts will be held every weekend at the Esterházy Palace in Fertőd. The summer concert series is realized in close cooperation between the Haydneum and the Eszterháza Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft. At Esterházy Fertőd Palace, a unique place both from the tourist and cultural point of view, the attention is thus drawn to the musical past. The historical place will be transformed again, as in the 18th century the court of Nicholas I Joseph Esterházy, the „Magnificent”, into a cultural center. Everyone who visits Eszterháza will have the opportunity to experience authentic performances of high quality, exclusively performed on historical instruments, in the Apollo Hall on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 7 p.m. onwards.
The aim of the Haydneum is to champion the merits of early music in Hungary and popularise the Hungarian-linked repertoire from the Baroque, Viennese Classical and early romantic periods (1630-1830). The aim of the foundation, established by the Hungarian Government in 2021, is to continue the international efforts of the past 50 years to revitalise the Baroque and to support and popularise early music performance in Hungary by organising research, sheet music publication, training courses, concerts and performances. Its activities will focus on rediscovering, preserving and disseminating the Hungarian-linked repertoire from the Baroque, Viennese Classical and early romantic periods (1630-1830). Our aim is for a line-up of outstanding performers to dazzle concert-goers with an outstanding repertoire at festivals every year in Budapest, Eszterháza and elsewhere in Hungary, as well as abroad.
More information and all concert dates can be found on: https://haydneum.com/en/festivals/festivals/haydneum-concerts-in-eszterhaza-2023/
