Golden Age

Order tickets
February 2025 Next
Mo
Tu
We
Th
Fr
Sa
Su

Program and cast

2nd February 2025

GOLDEN AGE: ENGLISH ELEGANCE

Symphonic concert

 Performance length: 2 hours, with 1 intermission.

PROGRAMME:
B. Britten: Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Henry Purcell
E. Elgar: Cello Concerto
G. Holst: The Planets
Featuring: Santiago Cañón-Valencia (cello) and the Orchestra and Choir of the Hungarian State Opera
Conductor: David Coleman

 

15th March 2025

Golden Age, Ybl211

 Performance length: 2 hours, without intermissions

PROGRAMME:
Bartók Béla: Rhapsody No. 1 and No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra
Franz Liszt: Faust Symphony
Featuring: N. N. (vocals), Lilia Pocitari (violin), Natalia Pocitari (cimbalom), and the Men's Choir of the Hungarian State Opera
Conductor: Péter Halász
Host: Melitta Gyüdi

 

18th May 2025

GOLDEN AGE: AMERICAN BEAUTY

Symphonic concert

 Performance length: 2 hours, with 1 intermission.

PROGRAMME:
S. Barber: Adagio
S. Barber: Dover Beach (Hungarian premiere)
C. Ives: The Unanswered Question
P. Glass: Tyrol Piano Concerto – 2nd Movement / Örvény Lukács (Ballet)
L. Bernstein: Candide (excerpts)
G. Gershwin: An American in Paris
J. Williams: Star Wars Suite (excerpts)

Conductor: Paul Connelly
Featuring: Eszter Zemlényi, Gabriella Balga (vocals), Gergely Varga (piano), the Hungarian National Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Hungarian State Opera House.

Hungarian State Opera

STANDING ROOM TICKETS - INFORMATION IN CASE OF A FULL HOUSE!

If all the seats are sold out for the selected time, but you still want to see the production on that day, 84 of the extremely affordable standing seats will be sold at the theatre, 2 hours before the start of the performance, with which you can visit the gallery on the 3rd floor. Tickets can be purchased at the ticket office of the Budapest Opera House. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the stage can only be seen to a limited extent from the standing places and the side seats, but at the same time, following the performance is also supported by television broadcasting on the spot.

The Opera House is not only one of the most significant art relic of Budapest, but the symbol of the Hungarian operatic tradition of more than three hundred years as well. The long-awaited moment in Hungarian opera life arrived on September 27, 1884, when, in the presence of Franz Joseph I. the Opera House was opened amid great pomp and ceremony. The event, however, erupted into a small scandal - the curious crowd broke into the entrance hall and overran the security guards in order to catch a glimpse of the splendid Palace on Sugar út. Designed by Mikós Ybl, a major figure of 19th century Hungarian architecture, the construction lived up to the highest expectations. Ornamentation included paintings and sculptures by leading figures of Hungarian art of the time: Károly Lotz, Bertalan Székely, Mór Than and Alajos Stróbl. The great bronze chandelier from Mainz and the stage machinery moda by the Asphaleia company of Vienna were both considered as cutting-edge technology at that time.

 

Many important artists were guests here including Gustav Mahler, the composer who was director in Budapest from 1887 to 1891. He founded the international prestige of the institution, performing Wagner operas as well as Magcagni’ Cavalleria Rusticana. The Hungarian State Opera has always maintained high professional standards, inviting international stars like Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Monserrat Caballé, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, José Cura, Thomas Hampson and Juan Diego Flórez to perform on its stage. The Hungarian cast include outstanding and renowed artists like Éva Marton, Ilona Tokody, Andrea Rost, Dénes Gulyás, Attila Fekete and Gábor Bretz.

Attila Nagy
© Hungarian State Opera
Related events