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Eight Applicants Bid to Run Budapest Opera

• 29 Mar 2023 12:21 PM
• Hungary Around the Clock

A second attempt to find a new general director of the Opera House produced eight candidates by Tuesday’s deadline of 5 p.m.

A previous tender launched in December ended without success, producing only one challenger to incumbent Szilveszter Ókovács, conductor György Ráth Győriványi.

Ókovács has held the top post since 2013, and is so sure of being reappointed that he has already announced the programme for the next season, adding that he has no Plan B.

The other bidders for the post are opera singers Erika Miklósa, Andrea Rost, and Romania’s Levente Molnár, along with Hungarian-Turkish conductor and pianist Alpaslan Ertüngealp, Gergely Kesselyák, first conductor at the Opera, lawyer and singer Dániel Vadász and director András Aczél.

The committee judging the bids has 30 days to reach a decision. T

hey will put forward a proposal and the final decision will be made by Culture and Innovation Minister János Csák within 30 days.

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