Performer: János Szikora

Andrea Brassói-Jőrös shines in the title role of János Szikora's new staging of Dvořák's fairy tale opera. 

Oliver von Dohnányi leads a great orchestral performance to drive Meyerbeer's grand historical epic, lit up by sparkling coloratura from Klára Kolonits.

Hungary is a landlocked country. In fact, Budapest is an awfully long way from the sea in all directions. So it’s not the first place you’d expect to come for a production of Wagner’sFlying Dutchman that is gloriously redolent of the sea, both in staging and in the orchestral performance. But that’s what we got last night at the Hungarian State Opera.

The vast 2023–24 season at Budapest boast 41 different operas and 19 ballets – with new productions of Boris Godunov, Rusalka, ballets by Bartók, and a world premiere from Peter Eötvös.