| Friday 17 October 2025 | 19:00 |
| Sunday 19 October 2025 | 11:00 |
| Friday 24 October 2025 | 19:00 |
| Eötvös, Peter (1944-2024) | Valuska | Libretto by Kinga Keszthelyi Mari Mezei, based on László Krasznahorkai’s novel The Melancholy of Resistance |
| Hungarian State Opera | ||
| Kálmán Szennai | Conductor | |
| Bence Varga | Director | |
| Botond Devich | Set Designer | |
| Kató Huszár | Costume Designer | |
| Sándor Baumgartner | Lighting Designer | |
| Hungarian State Opera Orchestra | ||
| Hungarian State Opera Chorus | ||
| Sylvie Gábor | Revival Director | |
| Andrea Valkai | Revival Director | |
| Zsolt Haja | Baritone | János Valuska |
| Adrienn Miksch | Soprano | Mrs Pflaum |
| Tünde Szabóki | Soprano | Tünde |
| Mária Farkasréti | Soprano | A peasant woman |
| András Hábetler | Bass | A teacher |
| Krisztián Cser | Bass | Man in a woolen coat / Soldier |
| Istvan Horvath | Tenor | Director |
| Gergely Ujvári | Tenor | The Prince’s adjutant |
| Lőrinc Kósa | Bass | Nadabán |
| András Kiss | Baritone | Mádai |
| Péter Balczó | Tenor | Volent |
| Gergely Dargó | Tenor | Ticket inspector |
| Attila Erdős | Bass | Officer |
There is about to be a major moment in Hungarian music history: in the new season, the OPERA will present the first opera written in Hungarian by Péter Eötvös, celebrating the 80th birthday of the internationally renowned composer in January 2024. The work is a musical theatre adaptation of László Krasznahorkai's novel The Melancholy of Resistance. The story may already be familiar from the film Werckmeister Harmonies, but, of course, the composer approaches the topic from a different angle compared to the director of the film, Béla Tarr. “Valuska, a young man with a pure heart, becomes a victim of a manipulative society in the shadow of a stuffed whale”, says Péter Eötvös about his thirteenth opera, which was commissioned by the OPERA and whose predecessors have been performed all over the world. Many of them have already been seen by Hungarian audiences. His works Three Sisters and Love and Other Demons have previously been staged at the Opera House. Valuska is directed by Bence Varga.
