A memorable Wooden Prince at Bartók Spring

By Phillip Nones, 24 May 2021

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Reviewed at Müpa: Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Budapest on 24 May 2021

Liszt, Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe (From the Cradle to the grave), Symphonic Poem, S 107

Liszt, Totentanz for piano and orchestra, S 126

Bartók, The Wooden Prince

Szent István Philharmonic

János Kovács, Conductor

Sebestyén Pellet, Piano

Leo Mujic, Choreography

Students of the Hungarian Dance Academy

Mayu Beppu, Dancer

Miyu Takamori, Dancer

Antoneta Turk, Dancer

Vince Topolánsky, Dancer

Bence Kaszab, Dancer

Yuho Yoshioka, Dancer

László Pavleszek, Dancer

Gvendolin Nagy, Dancer

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

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

Garbage bins and shopping trolleys

Zoltán Szabó, 9th December

A new production of Humperdinck's charming opera fails to enchant at the Erkel Theatre.

***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

Damiano Michieletto's La bohème 2.0 in Budapest

Olga de Kort, 26th February

Young bohemians give Puccini’s opera the refreshing radiance of youth.

****1

Hungarian State Opera's glossy Turandot

Jenny Camilleri, 30th January

Excitingly conducted and largely well-sung, this sumptuous but unfussy Turandot should please both traditionalist and adventurous operagoers.

***11

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Phillip Nones

Phillip Nones studied piano from age six, also playing percussion in educational and civic groups before moving to a rural area of the USA in 1990, where performance opportunities were few. Recently he has started performing again, participating in “side-by-side” orchestra performances and playing percussion in the World Doctors' Orchestra. His personal collection of music includes over 5,000 classical albums in all formats (CDs, LPs, 78s), plus downloads. In his professional life, he heads up a marketing communications firm in the state of Maryland. He blogs about the French composer Florent Schmitt here.

A memorable Wooden Prince at the Bartók Spring International Arts Festival