Sándor Fegyir asked for the cancellation of Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko's orchestra gala evening at the Hungarian State Opera House.Continue reading
After thirty years, the Hungarian State Opera is preparing for its largest-ever tour. The destination is Taiwan, and this is the first time the institution has presented an opera performance in the island nation.
The Dalszínház (Musical theater company) will perform Miklós Gábor Kerényi’s production Madama Butterfly, while the ballet company will perform Dutch choreographer Rudi van Dantzig, and Dutch ballet dancer Toer van Schayk’s Swan Lake choreography. This performance has hit the stage six times since 2015.
The performances will take place at the National Theater in Taipei and the Weiwuying – Kaohsiung National Arts Centre. The opera and ballet companies will perform in parallel in the two venues three times each in the first week of April.
The Hungarian State Opera will bring almost 180 people to Taiwan.
12 opera and nine ballet soloists, 23 chorus and 60 ballet artists, 10 ballet students and 40 technicians, administration, ballet masters, chaperones, and management will all be there to create the experience.
The opera performances will feature prestigious local ensembles, the Kaohsiung City Symphony Orchestra (KSO) and the Taipei Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, conducted by István Dénes, while the ballet performances will be accompanied by a recording of the Orchestra of the Hungarian State Opera conducted by Gábor Hontvári.
The artists of the Hungarian State Opera first performed in Taiwan in 1991, when a dozen ballet dancers from the company embarked on a six-stop tour, presenting László Seregi’s choreography Variations on a Children’s Song, along with classical and modern pas de deux (dance duet in ballet). This was followed by the Hungarian National Ballet’s 1995 guest performances in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where Seregi’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was staged for three nights in Taipei.
Via MTI; Featured picture: Pexels