The OperaWednesday series celebrated opera itself on 10 February 2021. The gala concert showcasing two centuries of Hungarian opera was streamed from 8:00 p.m. on Facebook and Origo.hu.
On 7 November 1810, composer Ferenc Erkel was born the son of a teacher in the eastern town of Gyula. Since 2013, the birthday of the father of Hungary’s Romantic national opera is celebrated on Hungarian Opera Day. This day saw the reopening of the Opera House’s legendary second venue, the Erkel Theatre. Soloists of the programme reprised the concert given on 7 November 2020 for the benefit of the viewers of the OperaWednesday series who were taken on a journey through 200 years of Hungarian opera from King Stephen by Ferenc Erkel through works by Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Jenő Kenessey, Emil Petrovics, Sándor Szokolay, György Ránki, János Vajda, Iván Madarász, Zsófia Tallér, Péter Tóth and Levente Gyöngyösi to the rock opera Stephen, the King by Levente Szörényi.
Soloists: Gabriella Balga, Gergely Boncsér, Attila Fekete, Bori Keszei, András Kiss, István Kovács, Boldizsár László, Ildikó Megyimórecz, Ágnes Molnár, András Palerdi, Orsolya Hajnalka Rőser, Andrea Szántó, László Szvétek, Zita Váradi and Géza Zsigmond
Featuring on the piano: László Bartal, Pálma Hidegkuti, Klára Jean and Balázs Kálvin
Artistic director of the performance: András Aczél
Hosted by Szilveszter Ókovács
Programme:
Ferenc Erkel: King Stephen – Prince Imre and Crescimira's duet – Bori Keszei, Boldizsár László, Balázs Kálvin
Béla Bartók: Blueberad's Castle – excerpt – Andrea Szántó, István Kovács, Klára Jean
Zoltán Kodály: Háry János – Örzse's song – Gabriella Balga, László Bartal
Jenő Kenessey: The Gold and the Woman – Anna's aria – Ildikó Megyimórecz, Balázs Kálvin
Emil Petrovics: C’est la guerre – the Fugitive and the Wife's duet – Zita Váradi, Attila Fekete, Klára Jean
Sándor Szokolay: Hamlet – Ophelia's aria – Orsolya Hajnalka Rőser, Klára Jean
György Ránki: King Pomádé's New Clothes – Pomádé's aria – András Kiss, László Bartal
János Vajda: Mario and the Magician – excerpt – András Palerdi, Pálma Hidegkuti
Iván Madarász: The Last Waltz – the Woman and the Man's scene – Gergely Boncsér, Orsolya Hajnalka Rőser, László Bartal
Zsófia Tallér: Leander and Linseed – Linseed's aria – Ágnes Molnár, Klára Jean
István Örkény – Péter Tóth: The Tót Family – Tót and the Water carrier's scene – László Szvétek, Géza Zsigmond, Balázs Kálvin
Levente Gyöngyösi: The Master and Margarita – Pilate's aria – István Kovács, Balázs Kálvin
Levente Szörényi – János Bródy: Stephen, the King – Finale – performed by the soloists of the concert with László Bartal (piano)
The performance can be viewed HERE.
Photo by Péter Rákossy