The Failoni Chamber Orchestra of the Hungarian State Opera was founded in 1989 by young soloists of the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra. Their name reflects their admiration of this great Italian conductor, Sergio Failoni.
Béla Nagy has been the concertmaster from the beginning. He was awarded the Gold Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in 2006. In its concerts and recordings the orchestra has worked together with famous singers and conductors, including Plácido Domingo, José Cura, Andrea Bocelli, Julia Hamari, Katia Ricciarelli, Edita Grube, Roberto Servile, Kurt Rydl, Ramon Vargas, Yuri Simonov, Rico Saccani, Will Humburg, Michael Halász, János Ács, Hanspeter Gmür, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Thanassis Polykandriotis and Ennio Morricone.
The orchestra has a close working relationship with Naxos and has produced more than 20 recordings, of which two received the CD of the Year Award in BBC Music Magazine.