Pannon Philharmonic

Conductor

András Vass

Education:
Twelve years of piano studies at the Targu Mures Arts Lyceum; two years of private study with the composer Boldizsár Csíky; Balthasar five years of conducting study led by  Ervin Lukács, András Ligeti, and Tamás Gál, after having admitted with maximum score to Franz Liszt Academy of Music… More

Soloist

Ágnes Kovács

soprano

Andrea Meláth

alto

Zoltán Megyesi

tenor More

Szabolcs Hámori

bass

Pannon Philharmonic Festival Choir (choirmasters: András Vass and László Dobos)

About the Programme

Christmas is celebrated all around the world, also at concert halls – with programme that suits to the occasion. This year at the Cathedral of Pécs, you can hear Baroque works for Christmas. Although its exact date of birth has not been clarified; Johann Sebastian Bach's seven-movement cantata, the Christen, ätzet diesen Tag is the earliest of the three; it is interesting that it was the composer’s first Christmas work that was played (in 1723) as of the cantor at St. Thomas in Leipzig.  Two years later, on 25 December 1725, also in Leipzig were presented the Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, which borrowed certain themes of other major Bach's works (eg. From the overture of the Suite in D major or from the Magnificat in E flat major). Nulla in mundo pax sincera -that is, no true peace in the world- is the title of Antonio Vivaldi’s  church motet composed for soprano, two violins, viola and basso continuo (in 1735), which is about the coming of Jesus redeeming the sinful world.