The Hungarian State Opera pays tribute to Saint Stephen on the occasion of the 1025th anniversary of the founding of the Hungarian state: on New Year’s Eve, the symphonic version of István, a király (Stephen, the King) will be performed, while the New Year’s concert will feature works by Beethoven and Zoltán Kodály related to Saint Stephen.
According to a statement by the Hungarian State Opera House, Prince Géza’s firstborn son was crowned King of Hungary on Christmas Day in the year 1000 according to the Julian calendar in use at the time, and on January 1, 1001 by the Gregorian calendar.
To mark the occasion, the Opera will stage the symphonic version of the rock opera István, a király (Stephen, the King) on December 31, which was first performed in 2020 on the occasion of one of the opera’s authors Levente Szörényi’s 75th birthday, with orchestration by Levente Gyöngyösi, conducted by Gergely Kesselyák and directed by Miklós Szinetár.
The cult piece, written in collaboration with János Bródy, will be performed for the last time at the Opera House after almost 50 highly successful performances, including this year’s series,
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In this spectacular production, Boldizsár László and István Bartos Barna will make their debut. The other main roles are played by Csaba Szegedi (Koppány), Kinga Kriszta (Gizella), Andrea Meláth (Sarolt), János Szemenyei (Laborc), István Kovácsházi (Asztrik), Melinda Heiter and opera studio member Vivienne Ortan (Réka). The production, featuring the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Choir and 14-member dance troupe, will once again be conducted by Gergely Kesselyák and will be performed on January 3, 4, 9 and 10.
At the Opera House’s New Year’s concert, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, including the Ode to Joy, will be performed alongside the composer’s equally popular King Stephen Overture. This will be followed by Zoltán Kodály’s hymn Song to King Saint Stephen, that the composer wrote in 1938 to mark the 1000th anniversary of the death of the founding king.
The New Year’s concert will feature a festive speech by Tamás Freund, Széchenyi Prize-winning neurobiologist and president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, who will also perform with his wife in the Kodály choir piece.
The concert, which will also be performed on January 17, will be conducted by Ádám Cser, with the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Choir, and the soloists of the 9th Symphony will be Lilla Horti, Atala Schöck, István Kovácsházi, and Krisztián Cser.
In addition, a new recording of Ferenc Erkel’s opera István király (King Stephen) is also in the works. The recording features István Kovács as King Stephen, Mária Farkasréti as Gisela of Hungary, Adorján Pataki as Prince Imre, Csaba Szegedi as Peter, Prince of Venice, Csaba Sándor Vazul, Prince of the House of Árpád, and Kinga Kriszta as Princess Crescimira of Croatia.
The Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Choir will be conducted by István Dénes, a permanent member of the Hungarian State Opera. After post-production, the recording will be available on popular music streaming services.
Via MTI; Featured image: opera.hu/Berecz Valter
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