Csaba Polgár tries to make the best of La Fille du régiment

By George Jahn, 30 January 2022

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“Szemere was a wonderfully ebullient Marie with a lyric coloratura that seems created for the role”

Reviewed at Erkel Színház (Erkel Theatre), Budapest on 29 January 2022

Donizetti, La Fille du régiment

Hungarian State Opera

Fabrizio Maria Carminati, Conductor

Csaba Polgár, Director

Lili Izsák, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Tamás Bányai, Lighting Designer

Hungarian State Opera Orchestra

Ármin Szabó-Székely, Dramaturgy

Zita Szemere, Marie

Gergely Boncsér, Tonio

Mária Farkasréti, Marquise de Berkenfield

András Palerdi, Sulpice

Bence Pataki, Hortensius

Tünde Szalontay, Duchesse de Crakentorp

Karina Sarkissova, Dancer

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.

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George Jahn

George Jahn is the former Vienna bureau chief of The Associated Press. During his 35-year career at the global news organization, he covered wars, politics... and opera, reviewing productions at the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Bayreuth Festival and other houses in Austria and Germany. He has also written for Opera Now and International Piano magazines in London. Those he has interviewed include Matthias Goerne, Vesselina Kasarova, Thomas Hampson and Mariss Jansons. George holds or shares awards for his reporting on U.N. affairs and for his coverage of the Bosnian war. A Canadian/Hungarian citizen, he splits his time between residences in Vienna and Budapest.

Csaba Polgár tries to make the best of La Fille du régiment in Budapest