The Hungarian State Opera has announced its 2019-20 concert season. For this article, we will only focus on concerts with operatic or vocal selections. The season will open with excerpts of Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito, ” Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5, and Rybnikov’s Symphony No. 6. The concert will feature violinist Haruka Nagao and conductor Gergely Kesselyák. Performance Date: {…}
OperaVision will present a live stream of Mozart’s “L’Oca del Cairo, Ossia Lo Sposo Deluso” from the Hungarian State Opera on June 21, 2019. The stream kicks off at 7 p.m. local time. That’s around 1 p.m. EDT and 10 a.m. PST for the start time. It will be available for repeat viewings on Opera Vision until Dec. 20, 2019. {…}
The Hungarian State Opera is set to conclude its 2018-19 season with a Puccini festival. The three-week Puccini Festival will showcase all of the famed Italian composer’s stage and vocal works. The festival kicks off with “Manon Lescaut” followed by “Tosca.” “La Fanciulla del West” will continue with “Madama Butterfly” and “La Rondine” after. “Edgar,” “La Bohème,” “Il Trittico” and” {…}
For the average older music lover, “Dance of the Hours” invariably conjures up images of Walt Disney’s plump pirouetting hippos in “Fantasia.” Or possibly Allan Sherman’s summer-camp horror story “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda.” Any connection to Amilcare’s Ponchielli’s very grand opera “La Gioconda” would more likely be left to the erudition of the panel on the Metropolitan Opera quiz. “Gioconda” {…}
The Hungarian State Opera has announced its 2019-20 season featuring a number of new productions and world premieres. Premieres Levente Gyöngyösi’s “The Master and Margarita” makes its world premiere in a new production by Szente Vajk. Performance Dates: Nov. 15, 2019 – May 28, 2020 Dóra Barta directs a new production of Monteverdi’s “L’incoronazione di Poppea.” Performance Dates: Dec. 6-29, 2019 {…}
The Hungarian State Opera is under fire for its recent revival of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” After performing a controversial production last season with an all-white cast, the house revived the production, again with an all-white cast, intentionally going against the Gershwin estates stipulations which indicate that the work should be performed by an all-black cast. However, according to Hungarian news, {…}
The Hungarian State Opera is set to present a new production of Ponchielli’s ‘La Gioconda.” The rarely performed work is part of a season dedicated to Puccini’s Italy. The work by Puccini’s master Amilcare Ponchielli returns to the Erkel Theatre after a hiatus of 20 years. The new production will be directed by András Almási-Tóth and will star Eszter Sümegi as Gioconda, Bernadett {…}
Following a series of extensive tours, the Hungarian State Opera returns is set to return to the Erkel Theatre to begin its 135th season, which will be dedicated to Puccini and his contemporaries. As expected the company will kick off its brand new season with one of Puccini’s finest works, “La Fanciulla del West,” in a new production by Vasily {…}
On November 4, 2018, the Hungarian State Opera’s tour featured a gala celebrating the music and dance of their homeland. I was surprised to learn that the date chosen for this celebration marks the 68th year since the Soviet intervention of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, wherein a large number of Hungarians gave their lives for their country against the {…}
Friday night of the Hungarian State Opera’s New York tour saw the performance of Karl Goldmark’s opera “The Queen of Sheba.” This under-performed work is firmly entrenched in the spirit of Romanticism, as Goldmark was a contemporary of figures such as Wagner, Berlioz, Rossini, Chopin, Verdi, and more. Many aspects of the opera, such as the plot, and structure of {…}
As the Hungarian State Opera continues its New York tour at Lincoln Center, the second night saw a double feature of performances from Hungarian composers: “Mario and the Magician” by Janos Vajda, and “Bluebeard’s Castle” by Bela Bartok. What followed was an enthralling showcase of the talents of the company, wherein the artists powerfully brought to life the methods, and {…}