The series of concerts titled Freedom First - the Year of Hungarian Freedom, which was organized by MÜPA and the Memorial Committee for 1956, took place in 25 major cities across Europe – including London, Berlin, Paris, Zurich, Geneva, Brussels and Vienna and were attended by more than 20 thousand people.

The commemorations of the 1956 Revolution and Freedom Fight included performances of the Muzsikás Folk Ensemble, the Hungarian Radio Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Tamás Vásáry and him on piano, István Pál Szalonna and his Band, the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Danubia Orchestra Óbuda, the Pannon Philharmonic. The unique concert series featured artists like Vilmos Szabadi violinist, Justo Sanz clarinetist, János Palojtay, Luis-Fernando Pérez pianists as well as Dezső Ránki and Edit Klukon pianists, carried the news of the 60th anniversary with sold-out concerts across Europe.

Among others the emblematic piece of the revolution, Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Piano Concerto No. 2, Kodály’s Dances of Galánta, the musical compositions of Béla Bartók and Franz Liszt were played, as well as Liszt's piano four-hand pieces by Dezső Ránki and Edit Klukon, such as the Mazeppa, Von derWiege bis zum Grabe and symphonic poem, Les Préludes. The French audiences had the chance to listen to László Lajtha’s Symphony No.7, also called Revolution Symphony, which was first performed in Paris in 1957, by the Danubia Orchestra Óbuda.

The gala concert series attracted keen interest with more than twenty thousand people in the audience and sold out concerts. The final leg of the MÜPA concert series in Poland by the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra was also characterized by similar avid interest, which included and introductory Slovakian concert and was followed by others in Krakow, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Szczecin, Bydgoszcz and Katowice honouring the memory of the heroes of the 1956 Revolution and Freedom Fight.