Performer: Ferenc Anger

A performance of highs and lows with a stellar step-in from Lidia Fridman as Lucrezia Borgia and a confused production by Ferenc Anger plays at the Palace of Arts.

Although with a promising concept, the Hungarian State Opera’s new production ultimately proved underdirected.

In a reconstruction of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s production for the world première of Reimann’s soul-pummelling Lear, the staging stands the test of time, but the cast and orchestra leave the biggest impression.