Discover the 2016-2017 season!

The abundant season of the famous Magyar Állami Operaház in Budapest is spread over two halls. The Erkel Theatre at very low rate is available to the Hungarian public by preference, as desired by the government. The beautiful Operaház whose architecture evokes its Parisian model features most of the prestigious productions of the troupe. Budapest possesses a great ensemble of professional singers, who perform almost every night. It is not uncommon to see a few international stars blend in with the local artists, like Erwin Schrott as Don Giovanni, Charles Castronovo in La Bohème or the anticipated Leo Nucci singing a now historic Rigoletto, in each of his appearances.

Between concerts, operas and ballets, the Operaház’s repertoire is quite extensive since it opens its platform to contemporary creation. But it is obviously the older repertoire that offers the finest of evenings at the opera. The masterpieces are on the program, and seat should be booked timely as it is not uncommon that the performances are sold out.

The focus of the ballet season in the Operaház is on the classic repertoire and sound values. We can be assured of attending a beautiful representation for between Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote and Le Corsaire, white ballet is very well represented. However, great successes of more modern ages also feature on the program, as Onegin by John Cranko and Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon. Another interest for the Ballet company of the Opera in Budapest is to present works of the Hungarian repertoire such as the wonderful Mandarin on the famous music by Bartók in the choreography of László Seregi.

In opera, it is the same and it is highly recommended to attend a performance of Bluebeard Castle by Béla Bartók, established here in 1918. But the Hungarian repertoire fortunately does not end with Bartók. The operas of Zoltán Kodály are also worth discovery, such as The Spinning Room or the masterpiece Háry János. Closer to home, the great composer Péter Eötvös offers a revised version of Love and Other Demons to the Budapest Opera House.

The rest of the program is unsurprisingly divided between the great Russian operas (Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky), German (Die Fledermaus by Strauss, Elektra), Italian (La Bohème, Andrea Chénier by Giordano) and French. Besides Carmen, Fausts Gounoud or Massenet’s Werther, the Budapest Opera displays Dialogues of the Carmelites of Poulenc for the first time this season. The works of Verdi (La Traviata, Otello, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore) and Wagner (Siegfried, Die Walküre, Parsifal) are always highly sought after by traditional fans as the staging is known to keep up the tradition.

A trip to Budapest is not complete without a visit to the opera. You just have to book your tickets …