Heroes’ Square in Budapest is an emblematic venue for us: the Budapest Festival Orchestra has treated audiences in the capital to a number of memorable concerts there. To recall just one of several special moments at the Budapest Fair: at a concert in 1993, during the Bosnian War, a choir of Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian singers performed Beethoven’s symphony No. 9 together, at the invitation of the BFO. In 2001, we performed a concert entitled “With Gypsies,” alongside Roma musicians; in 2007, thousands danced in the square at our “Waltz Concert.” Dance has retained a prominent role: the BFO has hosted the Dancing on the Square project five times, promoting tolerance and acceptance. Each year, for the closing event of the project, hundreds of young people from disadvantaged regions danced together in Heroes’ Square, to the music of the orchestra.

In 2023, the BFO will celebrate Budapest’s 150th birthday at this important venue and will perform an overture composed specifically for this occasion. As Iván Fischer puts it, “to celebrate Budapest’s 50th birthday, in 1923, they staged a major concert. It served as the premiere of new works composed for the occasion: Ernő Dohnányi’s Festival Overture, Béla Bartók’s Dance Suite and Zoltán Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus. The Budapest Festival Orchestra will continue this tradition on the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the capital, with the premiere of the winning submission composed for the occasion. The BFO will also perform Beethoven’s Eroica symphony.”