OperaVision will showcase Erkel’s “Bánk Bán” live from the Hungarian State Opera on September 7, 2018 starting at 7 p.m. local time. The Hungarian work will star Marcell Bakonyi, Ildikó Komlósi, Péter Balczó, Levente Molnár, Kolos Kováts, Zsolt Haja, Lajos Geiger, Gergely Irlanda, and Zita Szemere. Balázs Kocsár will conduct while Attila Vidnyánszky directs. The production will be available to {…}
The Hungarian State Opera has announced its 2018-19 season which is slated to includes a whopping 60 repertoire pieces and 16 premieres. The company has stated that the main theme of the season is taking audiences to Puccini’s Italy. There are also a series of concerts with some of opera’s biggest stars. Let’s break it down. Premieres (in order of {…}
The Hungarian State Opera has announced its first tour to the United States this fall. During a press conference in New York, general director Szilvester Okovacs was joined by artistic director Ferenc Anger to present the company’s tour. Heralded as the biggest endeavor by the opera company, the tour will showcase 350 musicians, four important Hungarian operas, and three ballet productions. {…}
The Hungarian State Opera will perform Offenbach’s “Die Rheinnixen” for the first time. The work will make its Hungarian premiere on Feb. 24, 2018. “Die Rheinnixen is considered Offenbach’s first opera and has been forgotten for years. It was commissioned by Vienna’s Hofoper and the piece depicts a country shattered by internal warfare through an unusual love story in which poetry and politics {…}
The Hungarian State Opera was not authorized to perform “Porgy and Bess” with an all Hungarian cast. According to a press release the company released and an article OperaWire published, the company would be making history by performing with a non-black cast. However, the Tams-Witmark Music Library, which licenses the live stage performing rights for the opera on behalf of the owners of that work, {…}
The Hungarian State Opera will present a new production of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” with a twist. The new production by András Almási-Tóth will break the restriction of almost 40 years that only an all-black cast can perform the piece. According to the Hungarian State Opera’s press release, “When George Gershwin’s masterpiece ‘Porgy and Bess’ was first produced in 1935, some felt aggrieved {…}
The Hungarian State Opera has announced its final opera of 2017. The company will showcase Humperdink’s “Hansel and Gretel” in a new production directed by Rafael R. Villalobos, winner of Opera Europa’s directing competition in Graz. The holiday favorite promises to be suitable for both adults and children as intended in the new production. The opera will be conducted by acclaimed János {…}
On November 18, 2017, Hungarian State Opera will be performing Rossini’s “L’italiana in Algeri,” making it the first production of the opera ever staged in the city of Budapest. The production comes as part of Hungarian State Opera’s ongoing mission to bring new or rarely-seen operas to audiences in Hungary. The opera itself boasts a marriage of the humor of farce {…}