On 3 February 2021, soloists praised by international critics performed concert highlights from Die Königin von Saba by Karl (Károly) Goldmark in the OperaWednesday series. The performance was streamed from 8:00 p.m. on Facebook and Origo.hu.
According to the ancient scriptures, the Queen of Sheba was obsessed with finding Wisdom, and so she journeyed to meet Solomon, who was known to be the wisest of all the rulers of the time, in order to put his knowledge to the test. Goldmark, who was born in Hungary to a religious Jewish family and forever remained true to his native country's culture even after moving to Vienna, was inspired by the beauty of one of his students to write this feverish and biblically-themed tale of a love triangle between the temperamental queen, a young Jerusalem diplomat and the daughter of the high priest.
The title role was performed by Erika Gál, her partners were Boldizsár László (Assad), Eszter Sümegi (Sulamith) and Zoltán Kelemen (King Solomon), Kálmán Szennai (piano), conducted by Balázs Kocsár. Artistic directors of the performance: Sylvie Gábor and Albert Mányik, narrator: Dániel Mona.
The performance can be viewed HERE.
Photo by János Kummer