Artist database

The story of the National Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra) began in 1923, with the formation of the Metropolitan Orchestra, which rapidly became one of the pillars of Hungarian musical life. After the war, Ferenc Fricsay and László Somogyi were appointed as principal conductors. During this era, Otto Klemperer also conducted forty concerts, while another regular guest was Antál Doráti.

In the 1950's, the orchestra began a series of highly successful foreign appearances. 1952 saw the appointment of János Ferencsik as principal conductor, which proved to be a match made in heaven for the orchestra. In the 1960's, a new wave of guest conductors took up invitations to conduct the orchestra, and their names read like a Who's Who of the profession: Ernest Ansermet, Antál Doráti, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Sir John Barbirolli, Leopold Stokowski, Claudio Abbado and Christoph von Dohnányi. Soloists to perform with the orchestra included such legends as Sviatoslav Richter, Yehudi Menuhin, Anja Silja, János Starker and Ruggiero Ricci, to name only a few.

János Ferencsik's death in 1984 brought this chapter of the orchestra's history to a close. But in 1987, a fitting successor to Ferencsik was found in the person of the Japanese conductor Kobayashi Ken-Ichiro. In the same year the orchestra was awarded with Béla Bartók-Ditta Pásztory Prize. Kobayashi enjoyed immense popularity in Hungary and he directed the orchestra for ten years. The next major change for the orchestra occured in 1998 when it was renamed Hungarian National Philharmonic and together with the Hungarian State Choir (now Hungarian National Choir) became national basic institutions.

There were also major changes in the orchestra's artistic leadership. In the autumn 1997, the general music director Zoltán Kocsis - one of the most talented of the younger generation of Hungarian conductors - was Zsolt Hamar, as resident conductor.

From the beginning of 2000, the Hungarian Cultural Heritage Ministry elected to give added financial support to the institution of the orchestra, choir and music library, which since 2002 has functioned as a non-profit company.

In the past few years, the orchestra has received a remarkable number of invitations to perform abroad, It has enjoyed immense successes at venues as far apart as the New York Avery Fisher Hall, the Tokyo Suntory Hall, the Birmingham Symphony Hall, the Athens Megaron Musicos and the Colmar Festival. ConcertoNet, the distinguished internet classical music journal nominated the orchestra's concert in New York in February 2003 as the winner of the Lully Prize for the best concert of the season.

Current performances of National Philharmonic Orchestra
Koncertkalendárium (www.muzsikalendarium.hu)