OperaWednesday
Erkel: Bánk bán

Streaming

Opera Highlights

Every Wednesday at 8 p.m., we broadcast highlights of the operas that had to be cancelled. Starting with Edgar by Puccini, viewers can see the most important excerpts featuring soloists of the Hungarian State Opera accompanied by piano. To enhance the experience, the costumes and parts of the sets created for the productions will also feature in these broadcasts.

Productions on stream:

23 September 2020 Puccini: EDGAR 
30 September 2020Puccini: MANON LESCALUT
7 October 2020 Bizet: CARMEN
14 October 2020 Verdi: UN BALLO IN MASCHERA
21 October 2020 Kodály: SPINNING ROOM 
28 October 2020 Testoni:  FANTASIO / FORTUNIO
4 November 2020 Offenbach: DIE RHEINNIXEN
11 November 2020 Mozart: THE IMPRESARIO / Menotti: THE TELEPHONE
18 November 2020 Gyöngyösi: THE MASTER AND MARGARITA
25 November 2020. R. Strauss: DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN
2 December 2020 Mozart: L'OCA DELH CAIRO,OSSIA LO SPOSO DELUSO
9 December 2020 Saint-Saëns: SAMSON AND DELILAH
16 December 2020 Beethoven: FIDELIO
23 December 2020 Mozart: DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE
30 December 2020 J. Strauss: THE BAT

6 January 2021 Verdi: LA TRAVIATA
13 January 2021 Kenessey: THE WOMAN AND THE GOLD / Örkény – Tóth: THE TÓT FAMILY
20 January 2021 J. Strauss: THE GYPSY BARON 
27 January 2021 Orff: CARMINA BURANA
3 February 2021 Goldmark: DIE KÖNIGIN VON SABA
10 February 2021 THE HUNGARIAN OPERA DAY
17 February 2021 Massenet: WERTHER  
24 February 2021 Puccini: MADAMA BUTTERFLY 
3 March 2021 Lendvay: THE RESPECTFUL PROSTITUTE / Saint-Saëns: THE YELLOW PRINCESSE
15 March 2021 Erkel: BÁNK BÁN
24 March 2021 Bach – Mendelssohn-Bartholdy: ST. MATTHEW PASSION
31 March 2021 Mascagni: CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA

ERKEL: BÁNK BÁN
In 1844, following on the heels of his triumph in the competition to set Ferenc Kölcsey's Himnusz – today the national anthem of Hungary – to music, Ferenc Erkel set about looking at the possibilities for using József Katona's much-attacked drama Bánk Bán as the subject for an opera. History made the period of composition a lengthy one: first came the Hungarian War of Independence of 1848/49, and censorship by the dictatorship that followed meant that the audience would have to wait until 9 March 1861 before the work could be performed in its entirety at Pest's National Theatre. As a result of, or in spite of, the high-level additions and revisions, the remarkable aspect of the following performances of the ever-acclaimed Bánk Bán is the fact that the text and musical material were created using both the work's original version and the 1939 revision – the one best know to the wider audience – credited to Kálmán Nádasdy. The storyline thus most closely mirrors the thinking of original playwright József Katona, without forcing us to dispense with the now-timeless grand aria 'Hazám, hazám' ('My homeland, my homeland').

GENERAL CAST
Endre II, king of Hungary: Krisztián Cser
Gertrud, his queen: Ildikó Komlósi
Bánk bán, the viceroy: István Kovácsházi
Melinda, his wife: Ingrid Kertesi
Ottó, Younger brother of Gertrud: István Horváth
Tiborc, a peasant: Michele Kalmandy
Petur bán, leader of the nobles: Zoltán Kelemen
Biberach, a knight-errant: Lajos Geiger

Featuring on piano: Anikó Katona
Highlights staged by Katalin Kovács and Orsolya Magyar