Search result for : opera

Why did Liszt never finish the opera Sardanapalo?

In the beginning of our conversation, this renowned History of Music Professor talks about an opera performance in my home city with sparkling eyes and like a little boy standing in front of a huge Christmas tree. Although David Trippett has already given many interviews about the reconstruction of Sardanapalo,...

There is too much singing in opera, Debussy said

The story of Pelléas and Mélisande embodied the ideal libretto for Debussy. The composer, who was determined to fight Wagnerism and follow the Impressionist line in music and especially in opera, was fascinated by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck’s play, which was presented in 1892. A true rebel, who valued only...

Frau Holle is a children’s opera this time

The Bartók Spring Festival's program boasts a real treasure: the premiere of the children's opera, Frau Holle, at Müpa This stage piece by Dániel Csengery, winner of a prize in the institution's 2020 music competition, is a noteworthy addition to the children's opera repertoire, which is still relatively limited. The...

King Pomádé: György Ránki’s children’s opera is a parody of power

On 115th anniversary of his birth, Müpa Budapest will present György Ránki's first hit work, the children's opera King Pomádé's new clothes, based on Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes. Having composed his first works at the tender age of twelve, Ránki no doubt belongs in the canon of the most...

Sleepless: gloomy yet beautiful Péter Eötvös opera in the Müpa

In the dark and brutal story of Sleepless, hope shines through hopelessness. One of the most renowned contemporary opera writers brings his newest piece to Budapest: at the show, part of the Bartók Spring International Arts Festival on 12 April, composer Péter Eötvös himself will conduct. "For me the genre...

We all use the falsetto register – interview with opera singer Anthony Roth Costanzo

As a child, Anthony Roth Costanzo performed in Broadway musicals, and once sang backup for Michael Jackson; as a countertenor, however, he has long been the centre of attention. He speaks with enthusiasm about the contemporary opera that changed his life, Japanese kabuki theatre, and the filmmaker he regards as...

New opera-musical version of The Master and Margarita – interview with director Vajk Szente

The Hungarian State Opera House is preparing for the Liszt Fest with a major performance with acrobats and dancers: Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita will be staged in the Eiffel Workshop Theatre in Levente Gyöngyösi's brand new opera-musical. We talked to the musical-loving director Vajk Szente about the unusual performance....

This could be Don Giovanni’s missing aria! – covid restrictions result in opera teaser

Since the second wave of the pandemic resulted in restrictions again, the Müpa is live broadcasting concerts without an audience. There was a programme in their calendar though where they had to be even more inventive, as the original show itself could not happen anymore. Instead of the staged Don...

Emőke Baráth: Hungarian opera singer under lockdown in Paris – An interview

Opera singer Emőke Baráth is one protagonist of the Müpa drive-in concert Figaro Here, Figaro There. We could see her many times in The Marriage of Figaro, this time she will fulfill some long-term dreams when singing two arias of Cherubino. The concert revolves around the figure of Figaro who...

Angels fly to Budapest – Péter Eötvös’ opera for the first time in Hungary

“A gay fantasia on national themes” This is the subtitle of Pulitzer-awarded play Angels in America. Still actual in today’s Hungary, the way majority society treats gay people, or otherness in general, no matter that Tony Kushner’s original play on “the state of American nation” in context of racial, religious,...

In John Cage’s piece, the singer feels naked on stage – interview with opera singer Katalin Károlyi

On Hungary’s most prominent arts festival featuring all kinds of arts, on the 28th CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival, Katalin Károlyi mezzosoprano will give the concerts Human Voice 2.1 and Human Voice 2.2 on the 7th and 8th October. The repertoire consists of three contemporary pieces of different kinds. In...

Rolando Villazón – opera singer with jester vibes and a dinosaur mask

Rolando Villazón song recital, Müpa, 01.10.2019, 8 pm In case you saw Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love, you can remember the endless possibilities of ‘average guy sings so well under the shower that he eventually gets to the opera stage’. Believe it or not, it actually happened to a...

The Sherlock Holmes of Russian Opera

Find a story that’s full of mysteries. Stick with it till you solve them all, even if this takes decades. And finally: share it with others. Music researcher János Bojti’s investigative work, spanning over forty years, is so systematic in nature, we might even call it the “Bojti Method”. Thanks...

Baroque Soap Opera Reloaded

Schematic plots spangled with flashy arias, opera as psychotherapy, and castrati, the pop stars of Baroque music, were the subject of our conversation with director Balázs Kovalik, who is presenting Artaserse, an opera by Hasse, with masters students from the Theaterakademie August Everding in Munich and the participation of the...

Goebbels and the Führer Review: A Heavy-Handed Recount of the Propaganda Machinery

The Nazi regime’s propaganda machine is one of the most terrifying examples of how narrative can be weaponized. In Goebbels and the Führer, director and writer Joachim A. Lang - who most recently explored the life of legendary choreographer John Cranko - returns to familiar territory: documentary-style filmmaking and the...

I’m Still Here Review: When the Past Won’t Stay Silent

What happens when history walks into your home, uninvited, and rips everything apart? Walter Salles’ latest film, I’m Still Here, tackles this question with a delicate yet unflinching gaze. Based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s autobiographical novel, the film tells the story of a woman whose life is upended when her...

“Queer” Review: Hon, Come As You Are

Venice Film Festival. Nine-minute standing ovation. A reported number of men growling in the audience, visibly squirming, some even leaving mid-screening as two male characters are in an intimate scene. I mean, the movie’s literally titled Queer. What exactly did they expect? Guadagnino’s 2024 adaptation of Queer is based on...

The Brutalist Review: Wrecking Ball to the American Dream

The Brutalist, Brady Corbet’s latest film, is not just a movie—it is an event. At least, that is how I convinced myself when I decided to trade my cozy white winter jumper for a black blazer and vest. Dressing up for a three-hour-long, intermission-equipped screening might sound a bit dramatic,...

Juror #2 Review: Mr. Eastwood, We’re Not Ready to Say Goodbye

Whether this marks legendary actor-filmmaker Clint Eastwood’s last directorial venture or not, his 42nd film serves as a powerful reminder of his talent for navigating complex moral dilemmas, delivering them with the slow-burn simplicity and weight. This, ladies and gentleman, is classic, top-north quality American cinema. Written by first-time screenwriter...

“Maria” Review: The Mandrax-Fueled Danse Macabre of La Divina

What makes an opera diva? And what makes someone “La Divina”? Is it the voice, the stage presence, or the presence of some sort of secrecy, the ability to become an almost mythical figure? In Maria (2024), the legendary opera singer Maria Callas is deconstructed by director Pablo Larraín. In...

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