This special concert on May 18 will feature emblematic works by John Williams, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Samuel Barber and Charles Ives performed by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, the opera house said in a statement to MTI.

The concert offers a colorful selection of the most prominent works of 20th-century American composers, representing almost every genre, from audience-friendly hits to serious, experimental works.

The evening which fits into the theme of the Opera Angol100 season, will be conducted by American Paul Connelly, and the program features opera singers Gabriella Balga and Eszter Zemlényi, pianist Zoltán Gergő Varga, and the Hungarian National Ballet.

The concert will feature the iconic composition of John Williams, who has won 5 Oscars and 26 Grammy Awards, the main theme of the 1977 film Star Wars. 

The Hollywood composer's music, which evokes romantic and post-romantic influences - following Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Gustav Holst and Erich Wolfgang Korngold, among others - has become one of the most characteristic leitmotifs in cinema.

Another hit piece of the concert is George Gershwin's An American in Paris, composed in 1928 and inspired by the composer's travels to France under the influence of Maurice Ravel. 

The piece evokes the experiences of an American traveler in Paris, with street noises and a French atmosphere. Gershwin's piece also inspired a 1951 musical film of the same name starring Gene Kelly, in the finale of which the entire work is performed with grand choreography.

Between the two well-known pieces, two concert numbers from Leonard Bernstein's 1956 operetta Candide, which has rarely been performed in Hungary, can be heard: the orchestral overture is followed by Glitter and Be Gay, interpreted by opera singer Eszter Zemlényi.

Before the intermission, one of the concert's musical pieces will be accompanied by a ballet production. 

The second movement of Philip Glass's Tyrolean Piano Concerto, composed in 2000 – which is based on the music written for the 1998 film The Truman Show – was choreographed by András Lukács in 2010 under the title Whirlwind for the Hungarian National Ballet.

The dance production is being shown with live musical accompaniment for the first time. 

Inspired by the tragic death of American writer Virginia Woolf and the 2002 film The Hours, which Glass also composed, the dance piece features solos by private dancers Carulla Leon Jessica and Kekalo Jurij, while Gergő Zoltán Varga plays the piano.

At the beginning of the evening, the audience will hear three chamber music works. Samuel Barber's Adagio, premiered in 1938 – based on the second movement of the composer's String Quartet – is known worldwide as mournful music, but can also be heard in numerous films (such as The Elephant Man, The Stage, Amélie).

The composer's composition Dover Beach, based on a poem by Matthew Arnold for baritone voice and string quartet, can now be heard on the Hungarian stage for the first time, performed by opera singer Gabriella Balga. 

The third opening piece is Charles Ives's metaphysical work The Unanswered Question, composed in 1908.

The Hungarian State Opera Orchestra is conducted by Paul Connelly, who has worked for four decades as a ballet and opera conductor in leading European and American opera houses, as well as in numerous concert productions, and has been conducting ballet productions at the Opera House since its reopening in 2022.

Source: 
MTI - The Hungarian News Agency, founded in 1881.

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