Tradition reconsidered in Bartók Dancetriptych in Budapest

Lea Földi, the Girl and Iurii Kekalo, the Mandarin in Marianna Venekei's The Miraculous Mandarin

Lea Földi as the Girl in Marianna Venekei's The Miraculous Mandarin

Lili Felméry as the Princess, András Rónai as the Wooden Prince in Velekei's The Wooden Prince

Hungarian National Ballet in László Velekei's The Wooden Prince

Soobin Lee in Kristóf Várnargy's Dance Suite

By Gianmarco Segato, 05 February 2024

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“Devastated, her inexorable fate is sealed as she is pulled back under the descending cityscape scrim”

Reviewed at Hungarian State Opera: Auditorium, Budapest on 3 February 2024

The Wooden Prince (László Velekei)

The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19, Sz 73 (new production) (Marianna Venekei)

Dance Suite (new production) (Várnagy Kristóf)

Hungarian National Ballet

Gergely Vajda, Conductor

Zsombor Czeglédi, Director

István Rózsa, Set Designer

Nóra Rományi, Costume Designer

Tamás Pillinger, Lighting Designer

Hungarian State Opera Orchestra

Gergely Zöldy Z, Set Designer

Mónika Szelei, Costume Designer

Lea Földi, Dancer

Iurii Kekalo, Dancer

Balazs Majoros, Dancer

Carlos Taravillo Mahillo, Dancer

Yago Guerra, Dancer

Jessica Carulla Leon, Dancer

András Rónai, Dancer

Lili Felméry, Dancer

Personal reflections: Esa-Pekka Salonen's Organ Concerto in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 19th January

Two forces of nature meet when Esa-Pekka Salonen and Olivier Latry share the stage for the German premiere of Salonen's own Organ Concerto, with a programme that also includes incandescent Bartók.

****1

Miraculous Russians: Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky in Florence

Elena Luporini, 11th December

Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra call in at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino for a programme of Prokofiev, Bartók and Stravinsky... and Gergiev picks up the keys to the city too.

****1

Autumnal Elgar and visceral Bartók from Roth, Weilerstein and the LSO

Mark Valencia, 19th December

At once visceral and disciplined, Roth drew scintillating playing from each section, none more so than the woodwind.

****1

A darkly dramatic Bartók double bill in Cleveland

Timothy Robson, 7th April

The Cleveland Orchestra and Joffrey Ballet team up for staged performances of Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin and Bluebeard's Castle.

****1

The LSO's humdinger of a farewell to Valery Gergiev

Roderic Dunnett, 18th October

Gergiev bows out of his tenure with the London Symphony Orchestra with a scrumptious programme of Stravinsky and Bartók.

****1

Shostakovich’s Orango keeps the Red Flag flying

Mark Pullinger, 24th August

Fervent flag-waving is usually reserved for the Last Night of the Proms, so what was going on in this Philharmonia concert? The Arena was awash with a sea of red flags, the chorus – and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen – were decked out in T-shirts bearing portraits of Lenin or Stalin.

***11

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Gianmarco Segato

Arts writer, administrator and singer Gianmarco Segato is Assistant Editor for La Scena Musicale. He was Associate Artist Manager for opera at Dean Artists Management and, from 2017-2022, Editorial Director of Opera Canada magazine. Previous to that he was Adult Programs Manager with the Canadian Opera Company. Gianmarco is an intrepid classical music traveler with a special love of Prague and Budapest as well as an avid cyclist and cook.

Tradition reconsidered in Bartók Dancetriptych at the Hungarian National Ballet