The Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra Szeged is the most significant music institution of South-East Hungary. The orchestra’s historical roots go back to the eighteenth century, its first opera performance being in 1790 in Szeged. Since then the municipality has always employed a group of instrumentalists. The orchestra of the Szeged Philharmonic Association was founded in 1919. The ensemble has been led by a number of devoted principal conductors like the young Ferenc Fricsay (from 1934 to 1944), who has brought the orchestra into its present position as one of the leading orchestras in Hungary. In the 40s such famous guest conductors were invited to the concert podium of the orchestra as Willem Mengelberg and Erich Kleiber or Pietro Mascagni, conducting his Cavalleria rusticana.