On Saturday 16 December, over 60 Hungarian professional and amateur musicians, who live in the Netherlands, brought an hommage to the late Hungarian composer and ethnomusicologist Zoltán Kodály during a family Christmas concert. The concert took place in the Paleiskerk in The Hague and was attended by over 200 guests.
The so-called Kodály season, which is supported by the Embassy of Hungary, kicked-off in September, at the Embassy Festival in The Hague. This was followed by a Kodály program during “Klassiek op het Amstelveld” in mid-September and the “Zoltán Kodály Festival” in November. The family concert in the Paleiskerk on 16 December marked the closing of the season.
The strength of this concert was the diversity of the performers. The concert, which was opened by Ambassador Kocsis, included performances by two choirs, namely The Hague Hungarian Choir (conducted by Orsolya Hegyi-Markolt) and the Amsterdam Hungarian Choir (conducted by Máté Lachegyi). They performed individually, but also sang several Kodály pieces as a joint choir, such as Advent song and Psalm 150 GNV.
The solo vocalist were Blanka Mester, Orsolya Kirkósa, Máté Bruckner, Gábor Bálint and Katalin Kovács, of which the latter two are the concert initiators and organizers.
The children who are part of The Hague Choir, also performed together as a children choir and their performances were very much loved by the audience.
Most pieces were guided on piano by Éva Szalai, who performed a beautiful solo as well, the Dances of Marosszék. A unique part of the evening were the contributions by the musicologist Endre Tóth, who was the host of the evening and provided a short explanation to every Kodály piece and concert performer.
After a short break, the trio consisting of Örs Kőszeghy (cello), Joseph Puglia (violin) and William Murray (viola) immediately set the right tone for the second part of the concert. They performed Kodály’s Intermezzo for string trio. The Hungarian cellist Kőszeghy then performed the third movement of Kodály’s Sonata for solo cello op. 8, which received a thunderous applause from the audience.
The concert then moved on to pieces from Kodály’s Hungarian folk opera Háry János. From those pieces, the folk band including Michiel Weidner (cimbalom), Mariëlle van Luik (violin) and Frank de Jong (bass) and the folk dancers from Het Karpaten Ensemble were an absolute highlight. Included in Het Karpaten Ensemble was a diplomat from our Embassy with great folk dancing skills, Mr Peter Danku.
The concert was concluded by all performers having sung Esti Dal on stage together. After a standing ovation from the audience, guest were invited to reflect on the concert during a light reception with Hungarian wines and delicacies. In the reception area, visitors could also view the roll-up banners of the Kodály exhibition, provided by the Embassy of Hungary.
Photos by: George Patho
