December at the Opera means that holiday magic returns to the stage and to the square around the Erkel Theatre. The Christmas market in front of the theatre is open until the last day of the year. Inside, opera and ballet performances, charity programmes, and a special concert awaits audiences.
Internationally acclaimed Hungarian opera singer Ildikó Komlósi celebrates 35 years at the Hungarian State Opera. To mark the occasion, a special anniversary gala is organised at the Erkel Theatre featuring Hungarian soloists and guest star Italian tenor, Marco Berti as well as the artists of FlamenCorazónArte Dance Theatre and Varidance Ensemble. The concert programme includes a scene from Verdi’s Aida and highlights from Bizet’s Carmen.
Created to Maurice Ravel’s Bolero and the music of Steve Reich, Erik Satie and others, the choreographies of the 1st Steps show address facets of life that affect us all in the irresistibly thrilling language of dance of Hans van Manen, Johan Inger, Jiří Kylián and Alexander Ekman.
Many people seem to remember Ildikó Komlósi as having been on the stage from a very early age, from early on in her studies. The fact is, though, that she left plenty of time for years of training at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and for maturing as an artist, and it was only in 1984 that she signed with the Hungarian State Opera. At the time, the institution was only operating at the Erkel Theatre, because the Opera House on Andrássy Avenue was undergoing renovations and would only reopen some months later, a situation that is similar to today’s. In the 35 years that have passed since then, the mezzo-soprano has made a fantastic career for herself, one that earned her the Kossuth Prize in 2016, although this recognition of her lifetime achievements should by no means be taken to indicate that the end is at hand.
The Opera House in Budapest is currently undergoing extensive restoration and modernisation. Until its reopening in 2021, our performances can be seen at the Erkel Theatre, the second venue of the Hungarian State Opera.
The Opera House in Budapest is currently undergoing extensive restoration and modernisation. Until its reopening in 2021, our performances can be seen at the Erkel Theatre, the second venue of the Hungarian State Opera.
Trained by the great Russians including Tamara Karsavina and Lubov Egorova, and later Rosella Hightower, Maina Gielgud has had an incredibly diverse career creating works with Maurice Béjart’s Ballet of the 20th Century, performing all the great classical ballets as a principal with London Festival Ballet (today English National Ballet) and Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet (today Birmingham Royal Ballet), and being partnered by Rudolf Nureyev in The Sleeping Beauty and Don Quixotte with the Ballet National de Marseille. She then pursued a career for several years as an international guest artist. As such, she performed on a variety of occasions with the Hungarian National Ballet, first in a Bejart gala programme with Jorge Donn and Daniel Lommel, then dancing her first full length Swan Lake with Victor Rona, The Sleeping Beauty and Giselle with Imre Dozsa, as well in other seasons, as Etudes, Webern opus V, and the Shades from La Bayadere. She was artistic director of the Australian Ballet (1983-1997) and the Royal Danish Ballet (1997-1999). Freelancing since 1999, she stages works (her own highly acclaimed Giselle for several companies such as the Australian Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Ballet du Rhin), made a comeback as a dancer and actress in Béjart’s L’Heure Exquise, and guest teaches and coaches around the world. From 2007 to 2012, her principal affiliation was with English National Ballet, where she was regular guest teacher, principal coach, and artistic advisor. She staged Lifar’s Suite en Blanc for English National Ballet; in April 2012, Rudolf Nureyev’s production of Don Quixote for Boston Ballet; in June 2012, Maurice Bejart’s Song of a Wayfarer, and in January 2013, Suite en Blanc for San Francisco Ballet. Also in 2012/2013, she had a long guest teaching engagement with the Australian Ballet, as well as teaching and coaching for the National Ballet of China in Beijing. In May 2013, she staged Erik Bruhn’s last production of La Sylphide for the Ballet of the Rome Opera House, and in June, Nureyev’s Swan Lake for La Scala, Milan, coaching Natalia Osipova and Claudio Coviello in the principal roles. In October she restaged Suite en Blanc for San Francisco Ballet’s New York season.