Opera Review: Raiders of the Lost Archive

The Hungarian National Opera strikes Goldmark with The Queen of Sheba.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The Queen of Sheba appeals to her lover Assad in Karl Goldmark's opera of the same title.
Photo by Péter Rakóssy for the Hungarian National Opera.

If you've been following Superconductor this week, the Hungarian National Opera's festival stand at Lincoln Center has not been a huge artistic success. That changed on Friday night with The Queen of Sheba, the 1875 chestnut by composer Karl Goldmark. Once a pillar of the repertory, the Queen held the stage in Vienna and Italy for decades and was mounted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1885. This performance of the opera (the first in New York in forty years) showed that this is a living, vibrant work well worthy of frequent revival: as long as its stringent vocal demands are met.

Opera Review: We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties...

The Hungarian National Opera offers a double bill at Lincoln Center.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Bass András Paleerde (in robe, left, and in suit, right) does double duty in the Hungarian
National Opera's double bill of Mario and the Magician and Duke Bluebeard's Castle.
Photo by Zsofia Palyi © 2018 Hungarian National Opera.

The most famous Hungarian opera of the twentieth century, and the only opera from that country to vault itself into the international repertory is Duke Bluebeard's Castle. Béla Bartók's lone operatic effort is a favorite around the world, although it is hard to cast and its one-hour length almost necessitates that it be performed as the heavy end of a double bill.

Opera Review: Country Over Party

The Hungarian National Opera presents Bánk bán.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Which way to Gagsorszag? Bánk bán (left) and Tiborc reminisce in Act II of Bánk bán.
Photo by Attila Nágy for the Hungarian National Opera.

The musical tradition of Hungary is as rich as any other neighboring country in central Europe. However, the vocal music written by Hungarian composers has not traveled well outside its borders, hampered by the forces of history and the formidable difficulties of the Hungarian language. Of Hungarian operas, the most popular and beloved is Ferenc Erkel's 1861 Bánk bán which finally had its North American debut on Tuesday night at Lincoln Center.

Festival Preview: Hungarian National Opera

Two weeks of opera and ballet, Budapest style.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Baritone Levente Molár in a scene from Erkel's seminal Hungarian opera Bánk Bán.
Photo by Attila Nagy. Image © 2018 the Hungarian National Opera.

The Hungarians are coming! For the first time since 2010, the David Koch Theater on the south side of Lincoln Center Plaza will resound with the sound of opera as the Hungarian National Opera comes to New York for a two week festival. The company is currently facing major renovations of its own house in Budapest. So they've decided to bring the exciting and colorful variety of operas from its own country to one of the big Lincoln Center stages. All performances will feature the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra under the baton of music director  Balázs Kocsár.