Boom or bust: the Hungarian State Opera's new Bánk Bán

By Hugo Shirley, 11 September 2017

Loading, please wait...

See full listing

“Levente Molnár... sings magnificently as the noble Bánk”

Reviewed at Erkel Színház (Erkel Theatre), Budapest on 9 September 2017

Erkel, Bánk bán

Hungarian State Opera

Balázs Kocsár, Conductor

Attila Vidnyánszky, Director

Oleksandr Bilozub, Set Designer

Viktória Nagy, Costume Designer

Marcell Bakonyi, Endre II

András Káldi Kiss, Endre II

Ildikó Komlósi, Gertrud

Judit Németh, Gertrud

Péter Balczó, Otto

Istvan Horvath, Otto

Levente Molnár, Bánk bán

Csaba Szegedi, Bánk bán

Zita Szemere, Melinda

Orsolya Hajnalka Rőser, Melinda

Zsolt Haja, Patúr-Petur bán

Zoltán Kelemen, Patúr-Petur bán

Kolos Kováts, Tiborc

István Rácz, Tiborc

Lajos Geiger, Biberach

Antal Cseh, Biberach

All that glitters is not gold in Budapest's new Lohengrin

Orsolya Gyárfás, 16th November

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

**111

A thrilling, opulent La Bayadère at Hungarian National Ballet

Gianmarco Segato, 14th June

Hungarian National Ballet's La Bayadère revitalizes tradition with a new reconstruction of its forgotten final act.

*****

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

Stumbling towards the chopping block: Maria Stuarda in Budapest

Orsolya Gyárfás, 14th May

Martin Rajna's energetic conducting and Gabriella Balga's glorious Elisabetta are the bright spots in this flashy but empty house premiere of Donizetti's classic.

**111

Hungarian National Ballet: a tremendously witty Merry Widow

Deborah Weiss, 12th February

Hungarian National Ballet strike a delightful balance between lighthearted comedy and technical assurance in Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow.

****1

A promising class: 6th Éva Marton Competition grand final

Orsolya Gyárfás, 7th September

In its tenth year and going strong, the biennial Éva Marton International Singing Competition fields an even level of talent in an entertaining finale.

More reviews...

Hugo Shirley

Hugo Shirley is a Berlin-based writer and musicologist. He has written widely as a critic in the UK, including for The Spectator, the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, and has held editorial posts at both Opera and Gramophone. He was editor of 30-Second Opera (Ivy Press, 2015) and has a PhD in musicology from King's College London, where his thesis focused on Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Die Frau ohne Schatten.