17th-century L'Orontea in Budapest goes millennial

By Alexandra Ivanoff, 19 April 2016

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Reviewed at Liszt Academy: Solti Hall, Budapest on 17 April 2016

Cesti, Orontea

Balázs Máté, Conductor

András Almási-Toth, Director

István Rózsa, Set Designer

Emőke Baráth, Orontea

Gyula Rab, Alidoro

Júlia Hajnóczy, Silandra

Anna Kissjudit, Aristea

Attila Erdős, Creonte

Ákos Ambrus, Gelone

Imai Ayane, Amore

Theodora Raftis, La filosofia

György Philipp, Corindo

Aura Musicale

Noemi Kulcsár, Choreography

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Klára Kolonits's radiant Elsa proves the main attraction in the Hungarian State Opera's visually appealing but conceptually lacking new Lohengrin.

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Visually splendid, dramatically parched La Gioconda in Budapest

Gianmarco Segato, 11th June

Hungarian State Opera's cut-down, dramatically inert Gioconda fails to ignite the stage in Budapest, despite a solid musical foundation.

***11

Epic swing and miss: Boris Godunov opens at Hungarian State Opera

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András Almási-Toth production of the original version of Mussorgsky's historical epic underwhelms in Budapest.

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Hungarian State Opera goes full The Last of Us with new Idomeneo

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Hungarian State Opera presents Idomeneo for the first time in almost 50 years in a musically superb, but controversial pandemic-informed dystopian setting.

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A torrent of themes: Parsifal at Hungarian State Opera

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In András Almási-Toth's engaging new production, magnificent orchestral and choral performances let Wagner's music do the talking.

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Budapest welcomes its Enfants Terribles

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Jean Cocteau meets Philip Glass at Hungarian State Opera in the new setting of the Eiffel Art Studios. Les Enfants Terribles unfolds at an infernal pace!

****1

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Alexandra Ivanoff

Alexandra Ivanoff is an American journalist who, after singing for five seasons with the San Francisco Opera, lived for eight years in Istanbul, where she began her career as a music journalist with Time Out magazine and Today's Zaman newspaper in that city. After one year in Berlin and now in Budapest, she reviews from various cities and festivals in Europe, as well as Istanbul, New York, and Los Angeles. She has degrees in music from the Eastman School of Music in NY and Yale University Graduate School of Music.