Every year since 2008, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Müpa Budapest have put on an all-day marathon production, most of them presenting the very best work of a given composer, with a series of consecutive concerts running from morning until late in the evening in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall and the Festival Theatre. From Bach and Brahms to Bartók and Bernstein, many outstanding composers have already been the protagonists of these days – Beethoven, for example, twice. The 2024 marathon, however, pays tribute to the Scandinavian masters, inviting the audience to Northern Europe, often described as harsh, but rich in wonderful landscapes and natural treasures. The late Romantic northern composers – such as Grieg, Nielsen and Sibelius, from Norway, Denmark and Finland, respectively – proclaim the beauty of their homelands, their folk traditions and their ancient beliefs with exquisitely crafted compositions, quite a few of which will be on offer at Müpa Budapest on 4 February.

The artistic directors of the series are Iván Fischer and Csaba Káel.