THE OF FRANCE SEASON THE OF FRANCE THE 2020/2021 SEASON SEASON IN NUMBERS

18 + 11 premieres* 400 performances at our main stages

233 opera performances 65 opera titles 15 + 8 opera premieres

135 ballet performances 26 ballet titles For the 2020/2021 season, the Hungarian State Opera is once again focusing 3 + 3 ballet premieres on the opera of one specific nation. We have already done so with German, Italian, and Hungarian works, and we are now devoting our season to 35 concerts and oratorios The Muse of France. Over the course of the past years, we have staged 15 opera and ballet galas works by a number of French composers, including Massenet, Offenbach, 11 mixed-genre performances Poulenc, and Saint-Saëns, as well as a number of productions that deal with French topics. The majority of our new opera and ballet premieres also focus 220 performances, concerts and galas at the Erkel Theatre on French culture, and many of our other performances, albeit Hungarian, 190 performances, concerts and galas at the Eiffel Art Studios German or Italian, have French roots or inspiration. 10+ tour and guest performances

*During The Muse of France Season we also stage the cancelled premieres of the 2019/2020 season. Accordingly, the 2020/2021 season will sample mainly French works and The Hungarian National Ballet has proven works dealing with French topics, including new productions of popular piec- its abilities on numerous occasions both in es like , Les contes d’Hoffmann, Andrea Chénier, and, after an absence and abroad in classic as well as in of more than one hundred years, La fille du régiment. The audience will again modern pieces. Therefore, the corps will be be able to experience Hungarian premieres and world premieres, including expanding its repertoire in both genres János Vajda’s new opera. The season will also fulfil some old dreams: we will during The Muse of France Season. stage the new production of and the early Baroque “fusion” opera Hungarian audiences will be shown L’incoronazione di Poppea. contemporary dance works by Alexander Ekman and Thierry Malandain at the Bánffy Stage, with a classic choreogra- OPERA PREMIERES phy by Vainonen, the full-length Flames of , performed at the Erkel Theatre in SALOME a new production after a 40-year hiatus. Giampaolo Testoni FANTASIO / FORTUNIO (Hungarian premiere) Jake Heggie DEAD MAN WALKING (Hungarian premiere) – Máté Bella L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA (world premiere) Levente Szörényi – János Bródy STEPHEN, THE KING (opera version premiere) János Vajda THE IMAGINARY INVALID OR THE CABAL OF HYPOCRITES (world premiere) Philip Glass LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES Levente Gyöngyösi THE MASTER AND MARGARITA Karol Józef Wojtyła THE JEWELLER’S SHOP Ludwig van Beethoven KÖNIG STEPHAN Ernő Dohnányi TANTE SIMONA Jenő Hubay LE LUTHIERE DE CRÉMONE DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL DON CARLO LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN BALLET PREMIERES Johann Sebastian Bach CHRISTIAN CANTATAS Richard Wagner PARSIFAL Alexander Ekman / – Ludwig van Beethoven – LA FILLE DU RÉGIMENT Franz Schubert CACTI (Hungarian premiere) Claude Debussy PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE Karina Sarkissova / Animal Cannibals JOYFUL! (world premiere) Umberto Giordano ANDREA CHÉNIER Wayne McGregor / Joby Talbot – Jack White III CHROMA (Hungarian premiere) 3 Gioachino Rossini / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Darius Milhaud / András Vinnai FIGARO Vasily Vainonen / Boris Asafyev FLAMES OF PARIS Jean-Baptiste Lully – Molière LE BOURGEOIS GENTILHOMME Thierry Malandain / Christoph Willibald Gluck DON JUAN (Hungarian premiere) Georges Bizet CARMEN Marianna Venekei / Igor Stravinsky FIREBIRDS (world premiere) ERKEL THEATRE EIFFEL ART STUDIOS REPERTOIRE REPERTOIRE

The Erkel Theatre offers almost 300 programmes The Eiffel Art Studios’ Bánffy Stage was built for smaller, but much more dedi- in the new season, with the repertoire including cated audiences: lovers of Baroque opera interpretations, experimental perfor- the most spectacular operas and ballets, as well mances, opera adaptations, modern choreographies, concert-like performances, as grand operas, oratory works, song recitals, and contemporary works can enjoy the Stage’s enormous orchestra and concert performances. pit and stage, the configurable seating, and the friendly atmosphere.

THE FAIRY QUEEN MATTHÄUS-PASSION BÁNK BÁN (THE VICEROY BÁNK) MESSIAH DIE KÖNIGIN VON SABA L’OCA DEL CAIRO, OSSIA LO SPOSO DELUSO DER ZIGEUNERBARON DIE FLEDERMAUS FOR CHILDREN THE NUTCRACKER EDGAR THE VERTIGINOUS UN BALLO IN MASCHERA SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 DWARFS DEAD MAN WALKING THRILL OF EXACTITUDE FALSTAFF DIE RHEINNIXEN SWAN LAKE A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM PETITE MORT SPARTACUS SIX DANCES LA BOHÈME LAURENCIA LES HUGUENOTS THE GOLD AND THE WOMAN SYLVIA PAS DE DEUX DIALOGUES DES THE BEATLECRACKER THE TÓT FAMILY THEME & VARIATIONS CARMÉLITES PETITE MORT LA PRINCESSE JAUNE SIX DANCES LA PUTAIN RESPECTUEUSE TROIS GNOSSIENNES CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA 5 TANGOS PAGLIACCI BEDROOM FOLK SAMSON ET DALILA EPISODE 31 WHIRLING MANON LESCAUT MESSA DI GLORIA (MASCAGNI) ÉTUDES A STREETCAR NAMED MADAMA BUTTERFLY REQUIEM (VERDI) WALKING MAD DESIRE INTERNATIONAL STARS OF THE SEASON

In addition to the 130 Hungarian singers featured in The Muse of France Sea- son, a number of famous international guest performers will be returning to our opera productions. We will also be host to quite a few new stars as part of gala concerts and separate performances: DMITRY KORCHAK, CARLO VENTRE and HECTOR LOPEZ MENDOZA will be returning to the Opera stage in operatic roles, with the Russian bass signer ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV holding a night of aria and song at the Erkel Theatre. Two of the Opera’s prestigious annual events, the end-of-winter celebration and the concert crowning the May Day celebrations, will feature internationally renowned stars: the mezzo-soprano SOPHIE KOCH will be debuting at the Erkel Theatre on occasion of the French Carnival and PATRICIA PETIBON will be gracing the Eiffel Art Studios for the French Festival’s closing concert.

ERIKA MIKLÓSA ANDREA ROST GREGORY KUNDE HECTOR LOPEZ MENDOZA

MIHÁLY KÁLMÁNDY

GÁBOR BRETZ ILDAR ABDRAZAKOV ILDIKÓ KOMLÓSI

DMITRY KORCHAK CARLO VENTRE ESZTER SÜMEGI

POLINA PASZTIRCSÁK BOLDIZSÁR LÁSZLÓ PATRICIA PETIBON

SOPHIE KOCH KLÁRA KOLONITS DIRECTORS OF THE SEASON GAI BEHAR The new season sees the return of a number of SHARON EYAL directors who are well known by Opera audienc- Bedroom Folk es and whose works have been on the repertoire for some years. We are also providing opportuni- ALEXANDER EKMAN ties for young artists who have already proven Cacti; Episode 31 their worth in prose theatre to debut as opera HANS VAN MANEN directors. The French season’s prominent pre- 5 Tangos; mieres include JÁNOS VAJDA’s new opera under Trois Gnossiennes the directorship of MÁTÉ SZABÓ, KRISZTA SZÉKELY will be directing Les contes d’Hoffmann, WAYNE MCGREGOR FABIO CERESA will be responsible for Andrea Chroma Chénier, and CSABA POLGÁR is directing MARIANNA VENEKEI Firebirds; La fille du régiment. A Streetcar Named Desire; The Beatlecracker KRISZTA SZÉKELY FERENC ANGER Les contes d’Hoffmann; Dialogues des Carmélites; La putain respectueuse; Messiah; Die Rheinnixen TAMÁS SOLYMOSI WILLIAM La princesse jaune The Nutcracker MÁTÉ SZABÓ FORSYTHE Le malade imaginaire; The Vertiginous A Midsummer Night’s Dream Thrill of Exactitude JÍŘÍ KYLIÁN ANDRÁS ALMÁSI-TÓTH JÁNOS SZIKORA Petite Mort; Six Dances L’incoronazione di Poppea; The Jeweller’s Shop; Parsifal; Dead Man Walking; Die Frau ohne Schatten; WAYNE EAGLING JOHAN INGER THIERRY MALANDAIN The Fairy Queen Les Huguenots; Werther The Nutcracker Walking Mad Don Juan FRANK HILBRICH Don Carlo

CSABA KÁEL MIKLÓS SZINETÁR The Gold and the Woman; Der Zigeunerbaron; The Tót Family; Die Fledermaus; Die Königin von Saba Stephen, the King CHOREOGRAPHERS PÁL OBERFRANK König Stephan OF THE SEASON The Hungarian National Ballet will again be hosting Hungarian premiers in the DÓRA BARTA FABIO CERESA Les enfants terribles Andrea Chénier 2020/2021 season. The one-act pieces of JIŘÍ KYLIÁN, JOHAN INGER, and HANS VAN MANEN have been on its repertoire for years now. ALEXANDER EKMAN first worked with the corps in 2019, and now, in the coming season, the Ballet will be ZOLTÁN RÁTÓTI performing his piece Cacti. This will also be the first time that the French choreographer Salome THIERRY MALANDAIN’s Don Juan will be played on the Hungarian stage. CONDUCTORS OF THE SEASON TOURS AND GUEST PERFORMANCES

The Opera Orchestra, as the symphony orchestra with the most performances The Opera is accepting numerous invitations in the 2020/2021 season, in the nation, will be participating in almost 300 concerts and opera and both in Hungary and abroad. Over the course of the season, audiences ballet performances in the 2020/2021 season. In addition to their two regular abroad will also have the opportunity to meet the Opera’s excellent venues, orchestra members will be displaying their talents in a number of formations. Our corps de ballet has played in BRNO on a number of alternative locations, including train stations, metro stations, churches, and occasions and has been met with resounding success. The Czech city will Müpa . They have also been invited to play as guest performers at a now be hosting our new production of Salome. number of Hungarian and international venues. Besides the most well-known Hungarian conductors, young conductors who have acquired experience internationally will also be trying their hand at leading the Orchestra. The new season will feature quite a few world-famous artists, among them PAUL CONNELLY, one of the most renowned ballet directors in the world, the Finnish composer and conductor LEIF SEGERSTAM, and Hungarian-born Austrian conductor STEFAN SOLTÉSZ, well known by the Opera’s audience.

GYÖRGY VASHEGYI A recent international success, the Tel Aviv performance of Die Königin von Saba is planned to return to JERUSALEM in 2021, whereas the national opera Bánk Bán (The Viceroy Bánk) by and Die Fledermaus by INDIA PAUL CONNELLY MARC PIOLLET Strauss have been invited to .

LEIF SEGERSTAM THOMAS HERZOG The Opera will also be hosted by a number of venues within Hungary: Verdi’s Requiem will be played in BÉKÉSCSABA as well as at Erkel Theatre. To continue the initiative we launched this year, we will be holding Advent charity concerts next year as well: besides Budapest, our French Christmas concert will be played in VESZPRÉM, Europe’s Capital of Culture for 2023. BALÁZS KOCSÁR Both Veszprém and GYŐR will be host to performances of La traviata. OLIVER VON DOHNÁNYI PÉTER HALÁSZ The audience will not have to do without opera genres in the summer of 2021, either. As a recurring guest, the Hungarian National Ballet will be performing its Etudes choreography at the GYŐR DANCE FESTIVAL, and will put on our traditional Tosca production as well as the new version of Carmen JÁNOS KOVÁCS on the OPEN-AIR STAGE. And to top off the season, we will be entertaining visitors in BALATONFÜRED with a selection of French works. GERGELY KESSELYÁK STEFAN SOLTÉSZ The special truck stage of the open-air Opera on Wheels series is planned to visit Hungarian communities beyond the borders of Hungary as well as main squares of a couple of towns within with the production of ÁDÁM MEDVECZKY L’elisir d’amore – the route of the tour is to be decided according to the developments in the epidemic. TIBOR BOGÁNYI FRANCESCO LANZILLOTTA

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DOMONKOS HÉJA REOPENING – SPECIAL OFFERS

Tickets for programmes organised by the Erkel Theatre in September and October 2020 are offered with 25% discount for subscription holders, and with 15% discount for non-subscription holders. Tickets for the Eiffel Art Studios are available with 50% discount. (Discounts are available for up to two tickets per performance.)

CONCESSIONS

Senior citizens (over 65): 25% Students: 50%

TCIKET OFFICES, CONTACT

Opera Sales Centre Eiffel Art Studios ticket office 1061 Budapest, 1011 Budapest, Kőbányai út 30. Hajós utca 13–15. Fsz. I. (opens one hour before the performance and 10:00 – 17:00 daily closes after the first interval)

Erkel Theatre ticket office 1087 Budapest, II. János pál pápa tér 30. 10:00 – 18:00 Mon – Fri (or until the end of the first interval)

Phone: (+36 1) 814 7490, (+ 36 1) 332 6150 (10:00 – 17:00 on weekdays) Online: www.opera.hu E-mail: [email protected]

1,5 m 1,5 m 1,5 m Subscriptions are not available before 31 December 2020.

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