Around the Music Festival

The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra has announced that its 2026 “European Concert” will be held at the Esterházy Palace in Hungary. The conductor will be Kirill Petrenko, the orchestra’s principal conductor and artistic director.

The Berlin Philharmonic’s “European Concert” was founded in 1991 at the suggestion of Claudio Abbado, who succeeded Herbert von Karajan as Principal Conductor and Artistic Director. It has been held every year on May 1st, the orchestra’s founding anniversary, in halls and historic buildings across Europe.

The venue, the palace, is a vast Rococo building in Fertöd, near the Austrian border, nicknamed the “Hungarian Versailles.” The composer Haydn, who was invited by Duke Miklós Esterházy to serve as Kapellmeister there for about 20 years, produced many masterpieces, including symphonies and string quartets.

PHOTO：MTI