In the 7 March 2021 programme of Masquerade, two young opera singers, Melinda Heiter and Máté Fülep made a selection of their favourite arias from French, Italian and German operas. The performance was streamed from 8:00 p.m. on Facebook and Origo.hu.
Mezzo-soprano Melinda Heiter obtained her degree in solo voice from the Budapest Pedagogical Institute of the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in 2008. She has sung in numerous theatres and concert halls both in Hungary and abroad, and in 2013, she won the Eighth International József Simándy Singing Competition, earning two special prizes as well. In that same year, she also received the Bayreuth scholarship of the Richard Wagner Society. She made her debut on the stage of the Hungarian State Opera in 2012 in the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte, later going on to perform mainly in Hungarian, Italian, French and German operas of the Romantic era.
Baritone Máté Fülep graduated from the University of Debrecen’s Faculty of Music in 2009 with degrees in voice and voice pedagogy. Although he had already joined the company of the Csokonai Theatre of Debrecen during his student years, sometimes appearing as a soloist there, it was at the National Theatre of Szeged where he made his debut in a principal role, as Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro. After completing his studies in Hungary, he went on to hone them further at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. He made his Hungarian State Opera in September 2015 as Eustachio in Donizetti’s I pazzi per progetto and has appeared there in numerous roles since then. His repertoire includes operas by Mozart, Erkel, Verdi, Puccini as well as French and 20th century compositions.
Artistic director of the performance: Katalin Kovács
Pianist: Erika Dallos
Hosted by Szilveszter Ókovács
Programme:
Meyerbeer: Les Huguenots – Urbain's aria from Act 1 ("Nobles seigneurs, salut!") – Melinda Heiter
Donizetti: Don Pasquale – Malatesta's aria from Act 1 ("Bella siccome un angelo") – Máté Fülep
Gounod: Roméo et Juliette – Stephano's aria from Act 3 ("Que fais-tu, blanche tourterelle") – Melinda Heiter
Puccini: Edgar – Frank's aria from Act 1 ("Questo amor, vergogna mia") – Máté Fülep
Bach: Hunting Cantata, BWV 208 – Schafe können sicher weiden – Erika Dallos
Thomas: Hamlet – Hamlet's aria from Act 2 ("Ò vin dissipe la tristesse") – Máté Fülep
R. Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos – The Componist's aria ("Sein wir wieder gut") – Melinda Heiter
Mozart: Così fan tutte – Dorabella and Guglielmo's duet from Act 2 ("Il core vi dono") – Melinda Heiter and Máté Fülep
The performance can be viewed HERE.
Photo by Valter Berecz