Sóska, sültkrumpli

János Arany’s epic poem is an enduring classic of Hungarian literature, with turns of phrases that are still parts of common parlance, and a hero who has been revived in opera, animated film, physical theatre production and monodrama.

What would happen if Sándor Petőfi were to write János Vitéz right here and now, before our very eyes? In this new stage version, the story emerges from a giant laptop, from which the two-dimensional and living characters of the tale come to life to bring the world of Johnny Corncob and Iluska into being through spoken word and song.

Two masterpieces of late 19th-century French sacred music make up the programme of this concert-hall celebration: Gabriel Fauré’s exquisitely beautiful Requiem and the Clovis Mass by the elderly Charles Gounod. Between the movements of the latter work, the audience will also become acquainted with four further gems from the Gallican tradition of church music, with one composition each by Alexandre Guilmant, Louis Aubert, Camille Saint-Saëns and Théodore Dubois.