Haydneum Concerts in Eszterháza 2026 – Summer Evening Concerts at the Esterházy Castle in Fertőd
Over four summer weekends, from 10 July to 1 August 2026, the “Hungarian Versailles” will once again come to life. The Haydneum will present a total of eight concerts on period instruments in the magnificent Apollo Room of Eszterháza Palace in Fertőd.
Continuing the legacy of the distinguished concert promoter Kálmán Strém, the series aims to offer audiences the very highest standards of historically informed performance in the unique setting of the Esterházy residence. The orchestral gala concerts will feature the Orfeo Orchestra, conducted by György Vashegyi, with fortepianist Petra Somlai as soloist, while Capella Savaria and its soloists will appear during the closing weekend. The chamber music programmes will be presented by Ensemble Variabile, together with some of Hungary’s finest keyboard players.
PROGRAMME
The opening weekend offers a rich selection for chamber music enthusiasts. In two concerts, the outstanding period-instrument musicians of Ensemble Variabile will perform masterpieces by Haydn and Mozart, alongside less familiar works, including the delightful String Symphony composed by the twelve-year-old Mendelssohn and the imposing Sextet by the celebrated pianist and composer Friedrich Kalkbrenner. The programme is completed by a selection of verbunkos music, providing an authentic insight into eighteenth-century Hungarian instrumental traditions and their influence as far afield as Vienna.
During the second weekend, György Vashegyi presents a selection of masterpieces from the Viennese Classical repertoire with his own Orfeo Orchestra, joined by fortepianist Petra Somlai. Joseph Haydn, who served the Esterházy court as composer and Kapellmeister for almost three decades, naturally takes centre stage, with symphonies composed within the walls of the palace that combine grandeur with wit. The programmes also include some of Mozart‘s most brilliant piano concertos.
The third weekend is devoted to keyboard instruments. The young harpsichord duo Róza Bene and Márton Borsányi, together with the fortepiano duo Rita Papp and László Gerhát, will recreate the rich keyboard culture of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through a varied repertoire of four-hand works. A particular highlight of the harpsichord recital will be Márton Borsányi‘s Overture and Fantasia, a contemporary work that enters into dialogue with the historical repertoire. The fortepiano recital concludes with Johann Sebastian Bach’s timeless chorales in arrangements by György Kurtág, paying tribute to the composer in the year of his centenary.
The concluding weekend promises a festive finale in collaboration with Capella Savaria of Szombathely, one of the internationally acclaimed pioneers of historically informed performance. Alongside symphonies by Joseph Haydn, Michael Haydn and Mozart, audiences will hear Haydn’s Horn Concerto in D major and Jiří Antonín Benda’s Flute Concerto in E minor. The soloists will be horn player Dániel Pálkövi and flautist Andrea Bertalan.
A UNIQUE ATMOSPHERE IN A HISTORIC SETTING
Since its foundation, the Haydneum – Hungarian Centre for Early Music has worked in close partnership with Eszterháza Palace in Fertőd. Throughout the summer it presents regular early music concerts at the palace, followed by its atmospheric annual festival held in late August and early September.
Joseph Haydn spent the defining years of his creative life in the service of the Esterházy court, which became one of the foremost musical centres of eighteenth-century Europe. It is therefore fitting that historically informed performances should find a natural home in this exceptional setting, a place of outstanding importance not only in Hungarian cultural history but also in the history of European music.
The distinctive atmosphere of these concerts arises from the meeting of place and performance. In the surroundings for which they were conceived, and performed on period instruments, the music is heard as its composers originally imagined it.
Organiser: Haydneum – Hungarian Centre for Early Music
Co-operating partner: Eszterháza Közhasznú Nonprofit Kft.