Unveiling of Mahler’s statue and jubilee concert

On the 150th anniversary of Gustav Mahler’s birth, the Budapest Opera opens its new season with a programme of events dedicated to the composer and conductor. Sculptor János Krasznai’s portrait statue of Mahler will be unveiled in the Bertalan Székely Room on 5 September at 6 p.m. The event will be followed by a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” in the auditorium conducted by Ádám Fischer. Soloists: Rita Rácz and Erika Gál, featuring the Choir of the Hungarian Radio and the Choir of the Hungarian State Opera.

First première: 14 September

Boito’s Mefistofele, staged by Balázs Kovalik, featuring Gábor Bretz, Attila Fekete and Gabriella Létay Kiss.

Further performances: 17, 19 (11 a.m.) & 22 September.

“The great rolling crashes and echoes of brazen sounds in the prelude transport us into illimitable space at once; and the tremendous sonority of the instrumentation at the end, with the defiant devil’s whistle recklessly mocking each climax of its grandeur, literally makes us all sit up.” (G. B. Shaw, 1889)

The Budapest Opera at the Theatrical Season Opening Festival

The Opera will be present at the Theatrical Season Opening Festival on 18 September. The Opera will have its stand on the bustling Andrássy Avenue, and perform excerpts from Donizetti’s comic opera Viva La Mamma on the main stage at 5:15 p.m.

Ballet

The Hungarian National Ballet invites dance-lovers to fourteen performances in September and October. The programme includes modern and classical choreographies. Gábor Keveházi’s Zorba – a joint production with the Palace of Arts – is to be performed at the Festival Theatre on 18 September and 29 October.

On the stage of the Opera House, they will perform Lilla Pártay’s choreography to Gone with the Wind, which is based on Mitchell’s highly acclaimed novel and Antonín Dvořák’s music. Performances: 24 & 30 September, 1 & 3 October.

The most popular piece of László Seregi’s Shakespeare trilogy, Romeo and Juliet can be seen at the Opera every night from 14 to 17 October.

The Balanchine Evening which was premièred in 2009, will be performed on four consecutive nights from 24 October.

Audiences’ favourites and new conductors

The Tosca and Carmen performances in September will be conducted by Leonard Bernstein Prize-winner conductor Moshe Atzmon. The internationally renowned artist has been a principal conductor with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Hamburg Radio, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the Nagoya Philharmonics, and has conducted many other famous orchestras around the world in leading opera houses and concert halls. He debuted in Budapest in 2009 as a conductor of Nabucco at the Hungarian State Opera.

Performances: 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18 & 23 September.

Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia will be conducted by the young conductor of the Mainz Staatsoper, Péter Halász on 11, 19 & 28 September and 8 October.

Mozart’s comic opera Le nozze di Figaro, conducted by János Kovács, can be enjoyed on four nights from 8 October. Ilona Tokody will sing Countess Almaviva, and Péter Kálmán will sing the role of the Count.

Norma is included in the programme again. Bellini’s perhaps most popular dramatic opera has not been performed at the Budapest Opera since 2006. Norma will be in the programme on six nights from 3 October, and there will be three more performances in March. Gyöngyi Lukács will sing the title role, Attila Fekete will sing Pollione, and Éva Pánczél will appear as Adalgisa. Conductor: Balázs Kocsár.

Der Rosenkavalier – with new singers

Strauss’s opera, which was premièred in Andrejs Zagars’s direction last year, will be performed on 29 September with two new singers in the main roles. Tünde Szabóki will sing the role of the Marschallin, László Szvétek will appear as Baron Ochs, and Ingrid Kertesi will sing Sophie’s role. Conductor: István Dénes.

First performance: 26 September.

Beethoven’s single opera Fidelio was previously staged by Balázs Kovalik at the Budapest Opera. The opera will be performed with a new conductor in the 2010/2011 season from 26 October.

October Première: Amazing Cellphone World

On 9 October, as part of the cooperation between the Hungarian State Opera and dramatic theatres, István Márta’s opera will be performed at the Új Színház (New Theatre) featuring the orchestra and singers of the Opera House.

The one-act opera is directed by János Szikora and conducted by Kálmán Szennai. Soloists: Tünde Frankó, Zsuzsanna Fülöp, Ákos Ambrus, Zsolt Derecskei and János Tóth.

“A global mobile phone opera with multicultural visual elements for singers, actors, ballet dancers and musicians.”

18th World Stars Ballet Gala

The 18th World Stars Ballet Gala will be organised jointly by World Stars Productions and the Hungarian State Opera.

The night will feature artists of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (New York City), the Georgian National Theatre (Tbilisi), the Chinese National Ballet (Peking), the Latvian National Ballet (Riga), the Slovakian National Theatre (Bratislava) and soloists of the Hungarian National Ballet. The programme of the Budapest gala includes premières of Georgian G. Alexidze’s choreography Tango and A. Leimanis’s solo piece Breakthrough.

18th World Stars Ballet Gala: 25 September, 6:30 p.m.

Concerts of the Orchestra of the Budapest Philharmonic Society at the Hungarian State Opera

20 & 21 September, 7:30 p.m.

Conductor: Zoltán Kocsis, featuring Júlia Hajnóczy (soprano)

Claude Debussy: Ibéria

Claude Debussy: Ariettes oubliées

Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (“From the New World”)

11 & 12 October 7:30 p.m.

Conductor: János Kovács, featuring Beatrix Fodor (soprano) and Dezső Ránki (piano)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano concerto in G Major op. 56

Ludwig van Beethoven: „Ah! Perfido” – concert aria op. 65

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major op. 92"

Source: opera.hu