On 23 June 2021, the final instalment of the 2020/21 OperaWednesday series presented highlights from Les Huguenots, Giacomo Meyerbeer's grand opéra. The performance was streamed from 8:00 p.m. on Facebook and Origo.hu.
Celebrated in German and Italian-speaking lands as well as the Francophone world, composer Giacomo Meyerbeer was the ultimate international star of his day. Although he drew on the operatic styles of all three regions, Les Huguenots, his chef d’oeuvre, is one of the most brilliant examples of French grand opéra. With its dramatic storyline clamouring for a spectacular set, it is a superbly scored work of music that requires a high level of virtuosity. It conquered the whole world soon after its world premiere in Paris in 1836 and has been regarded as one of the important rarities among the major Romantic works ever since. The story is based on Prosper Mérimée’s 1829 novel La Chronique du temps de Charles IX and one of the most horrible events in the French Wars of Religion: the Saint Bartholomew’s Day massacre, when thousands of French Calvinist Protestants (Huguenots) gathered in Paris were butchered with the assent of the king.
Soloists of the concert highlights were Orsolya Hajnalka Rőser (Marguerite de Valois), Gergely Boncsér (Raoul de Nangis), Géza Gábor (Marcel), Melinda Heiter (Urbain) and Kinga Kriszta (Valentine) accompanied on the piano by Bálint Zsoldos. The performance staged by Sylvie Gábor was narrated by Dániel Mona.
The performance can be viewed HERE.
Photo by Edina Ligeti