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.
Paolo Fantin was born in Castelfranco (Italy) in 1981 and studied stage design at Venice’s Istituto Statale d'Arte. Since 2007 he works closely with the director Damiano Michieletto, with whom he was a finalist in the 2005 International Competition for Stage Direction and Design in Graz (the ‘Ring Award’) for their staging of Le nozze di Figaro. Their collaboration continued with Britten’s children’s opera The Little Sweep in Sicily, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Il Friuli, Marco Tutino’s La bella e la bestia in Modena, Nino Rota’s Il cappello di paglia di Firenze in Genoa, Michael Daugherty’s Jackie O at the Lugo Opera Festival, La gazza ladra and Sigismondo at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Regio in Turin and Don Giovanni at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. For Don Giovanni, Sigismondo and Madama Butterfly Paolo Fantin, together with Carla Teti, was awarded the 2011 Premio Franco Abbiati for best stage and costume design. His designs for the Zurich Opera include Lucia di Lammermoor, Il corsaro, Luisa Miller and Poliuto. He has also designed the sets for Michieletto’s productions of Roméo et Juliette and a Mozart/Da Ponte cycle at the Teatro La Fenice, Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, La scala di seta at the Rossini Opera Festival, Das Land des Lächelns in Trieste, Il barbiere di Siviglia in Geneva, L’elisir d’amore in Valencia, Così fan tutte in Tokyo, Martinů’s The Greek Passion in Palermo, Il trittico at the Theater an der Wien and the Royal Opera in Copenhagen, Un ballo in maschera at La Scala, Milan, Idomeneo at the Theater an der Wien, Gogol’s The Government Inspector at the Teatro Stabile del Veneto and The Rake’s Progress in Leipzig. He made his Salzburg Festival debut, together with Michieletto, with La bohème in 2012 and returned for Falstaff in 2013 and for La Cenerentola in 2014.