Sensational Hungarian double bill at Müpa

By David Smythe, 11 February 2018

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“a captivating dramatic and physical performance”

Reviewed at Müpa: Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Budapest on 10 February 2018

Eötvös, Senza sangue (Without Blood)

Bartók, Duke Bluebeard's Castle

Peter Eötvös, Conductor

Csaba Káel, Director

Éva Szendrényi, Set Designer

Anikó Németh, Costume Designer

Andrea Szántó, Judith

Krisztián Cser, Bluebeard

Viktória Vizin, La Donna

Jordan Shanahan, L'Uomo

Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Lóránt Demeter, Video

The Queen of Sheba a rare Hungarian delight in New York

Ako Imamura, 2nd November

The Hungarian State Opera's first New York tour featured an opera of forbidden love set in the Biblical Times by Karl Goldmark, and was a rare treat for the New York audience.

***11

Hungarian State Opera's slow-motion The Queen of Sheba

Alexandra Ivanoff, 18th May

The score of Goldmark's opera is filled with lovely orchestral surprises, in addition to stunning arias, but is often filled with an abundance of slow tempos.

***11

Bartók double bill at Müpa Budapest

Julien Hanck, 7th October

Hungarian critic Sandor Hevesy once declared that Bluebeard’s Castle was “far too dark”. Yet, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Miraculous Mandarin are probably the summation of his orchestral journey. And what better experience then making it to Budapest, to hear it in its birthplace?

*****

Chasing the American Dream: UK premiere for Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up

Mark Pullinger, 1st June

Amy Lane directs an intimate staging of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s 2018 chamber opera in the compact Milton Court Theatre.

****1

Longborough Festival Opera season starts slow with Orlando

Eleanor Knight, 30th May

Beth Taylor gives the lows and highs of Handel's heroics an almighty, whole-body shakedown in Sinéad O'Neill’s new staging of Handel's Orlando.

***11

Bang! Mozart’s volcano erupts in Opera Holland Park’s Così fan tutte

Peter Quantrill, 28th May

Mount Vesuvius looms over Cecilia Stinton’s compelling new production of Così fan tutte.

****1

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David Smythe

David the farmer was drawn into music through choirs, orchestras, taking part in and directing 'serious' opera as a student. Passionate about live classical music, particularly chamber opera, unusual pieces and events and giving the next generation the tools to engage with the classical world.

Senza sangue the ideal partner to Bluebeard’s Castle in sensational Hungarian double bill