The last cheerful sound before the world war, bringing harmony to a seemingly irreconcilable conflict and a groundbreaking string octet: this is the emotional rollercoaster offered by the Budapest Festival Orchestra to audiences in Saanen. A few months after composing his Divertimento, an unimpeded piece invoking also the looming atmosphere of war, Bartók emigrated to America. Iván Fischer reflects on the horrors of that very war, while exploring how, despite all this, we can still admire German culture. The answer is provided, among other things, by Mendelssohn’s piece concluding the concert, which is still a hallmark work in octet literature. In the cantata of Fischer, also the conductor of the concert, the soloists will be Gergely Csikota, the orchestra’s well-traveled trumpet player, and soprano Mirella Hagen, whose voice was praised by Bachtrack as “effortless and ethereal”.

Gergely Csikota

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Aug 17, 2026

Tour: Menuhin Festival Gstaad – Chamber Concert · Budapest Festival Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Trumpet in String Octet in E-flat major by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

Budapest Festival Orchestra

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