Sounds of Sorrow

The MÁV Symphony Orchestra continues its collaboration with the Voix Étouffées ("Silenced Voices") project, an initiative active across the European Union since 2009 that is dedicated to rediscovering music banned by the Nazi regime and commemorating its victims. The programme presents works by composers whose lives and careers were profoundly disrupted by the tragedies of the twentieth century, yet who left behind music of enduring artistic value. The works of Szymon Laks, Erwin Schulhoff, László Weiner, and Mieczysław Weinberg preserve not only the memory of individual destinies but also that of an entire cultural world that totalitarianism sought to silence.

The concert is conducted by the Ukrainian-born Maxim Rysanov, who also appears as viola soloist. For him, it is especially meaningful that the programme includes music from his homeland. The works of Mykola Lysenko and Miroslav Skoryk therefore create a bridge to the present, paying tribute to those who continue to suffer from the devastation of wars in our own time.

The soloists are the Ukrainian violinist Dmytro Udovychenko, winner of the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition, and the remarkable nine-year-old Hungarian cellist Lénárd Kokas.

Beyond commemorating the past and affirming the dignity of the human spirit, this concert celebrates the enduring power of music.

The EU co-funded project Music, Memory and European Identity, spanning nineteen European Union member states, is coordinated by Forum Voix Étouffées, the leading European organisation dedicated to rediscovering the vast repertoire of composers persecuted by totalitarian regimes, above all the Nazi dictatorship. The MÁV Symphony Orchestra has been an active participant in the organisation's work since 2024.