György Vashegyi

The Two Haydns' Final Masses

MMA was one of the sponsors of the special performance of Joseph and Michael Haydn's Final Masses (Harmoniemesse, Hob. XXII:14, St. Francis Mass, MH 826) at Müpa in Budapest on 7 February. The conductor was György Vashegyi, corresponding member of MMA and leader and founder of Orfeo Orchestra and the Purcell Choir.
In the 2016/17 season the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra are continuing their exploration of those parts of the 18th and 19th century repertoire that are somehow connected to Hungary. As part of this work they are placing special focus on what is today a scarcely known work of Michael Haydn (1737-1806), the younger brother of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). In the realm of liturgical music Michael Haydn's acclaim across Europe surpassed even that of his world-famous older brother. From the two Haydns' final masses performed on period instruments at Müpa the one composed by Michael Haydn was played for the first time in Hungary since the 19th century.
The Orfeo Orchestra was established in Budapest in 1991 by György Vashegyi, receiving its name from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, following the first full performance of the opera in Hungary. The Orfeo is the most authentic exponent of classical compositions in Hungary and has given many first performances on period instruments under the baton of György Vashegyi. In 1990 Vashegyi founded the Purcell Choir in Budapest for a concert performance of Purcell's Dido & Aeneas.
The Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra have been performing continuously since their foundation in Budapest. The chief conductor and artistic director of both ensembles is György Vashegyi, but they have also given concerts with guest conductors such as Nicholas McGegan and Howard Williams. The choir consists of 20-45 young soloists. The orchestra plays on period instruments with 15-45 members, and has undertaken successful tours in Austria, Germany , France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Italy, Israel and South America. The two ensembles performed the following compositions on period instruments for the first time in Hungary: Mozart's Requiem (November 1998), Così fan tutte (August 1999 - the first historic stage performance of the opera in Hungary), Brahms's A German Requiem (November 1998) and the St. Matthew Passion by Bach (April 2000). Since the founding of the Haydn Festival by the Hungarian Haydn Society (1998) they have regularly given concerts in the Esterházy Palace at Fertőd, featuring first performances of important compositions (masses and other church music, symphonies and concertos) by Joseph Haydn on period instruments in Hungary. In 2002 they embarked on a 6-year project to perform the first 80 of Haydn's symphonies at Fertőd, employing the unusually small ensemble which Haydn used for these symphonies.
February 17, 2017