At the end of April, 58 singers from Bristol Choral Society, together with conductor (Steven Kings),
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| Singing in Matyas Church |
organist (Peter King) and 16 supporters travelled to Hungary.
We spent the first four nights in Budapest where we participated in mass at the Matyas church, singing Zoltan Kodaly's Missa Brevis and following this with a short recital comprising some Liszt motets and John Rutter's Requiem. The mass was conducted in Hungarian, but the church's musical director ensured everyone performed at the right moments! He even taught us a Hallelujah so that we could join in with him.
The remainder of out time in the capital was for sight-seeing and tourism. Many took advantage of the wonderful spa baths, enjoying outdoor bathing in warm water together with assorted saunas, steam baths and other novelties. Some were able to book seats for the opera either at the National Opera or the more modern Erkel Theatre.
Then we moved for the last two nights to Kecskemet, the birthplace of Kodaly. As it is about an hour and a half's drive south of Budapest, we had ample opportunity to see something of the Great
Hungarian Plain. (Very flat and dusty!) Kecskemet is quite small and quiet, and provided a pleasant contrast to the bustle a Budapest. We performed the same works as before in the church of Sts Peter and Paul. We had the satisfaction of 'converting' a family to this type of music, which was something they had never heard before. They had met
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| Singing in Kecskemet |
some of our number by chance earlier in the day and on speaking aftre the concert proclaimed themselves quite won over!
Everyone had a wonderful time, and by many it was declared to be the best tour yet!
June Tagholm