György Selmeczi / János Vajda

Royal Highness / The Verdict

classical Opera 8
From
To
Eiffel Art Studios – Miklós Bánffy Stage
Running time including intermission
  • Royal Highness:
  • Interval:
  • The Verdict:

Language Hungarian

Surtitle Hungarian, English

World premiere

The works by two significant authors of the German-speaking world, Thomas Mann and Friedrich Dürrenmatt, come to life in a single evening through new world premieres at the Hungarian State Opera. The two one-act operas are composed by popular contemporary Hungarian composers: György Selmeczi adapts Mann’s autobiographically inspired, fairy-tale-like novel Royal Highness into the language of music, while in The Verdict, János Vajda places Dürrenmatt’s increasingly serious “game” from the novella A Dangerous Game into a chamber opera setting, within the intimate atmosphere of the Bánffy Stage at the Eiffel Art Studios. Both stories are marked by unexpected turns, but while the arranged marriage of his royal highness gradually transforms into true love, Dürrenmatt’s hero takes part in a game whose outcome is anything but a joke.

György Selmeczi

Royal Highness

An American millionaire arrives with his daughter in a fictional German principality plagued by perpetual economic troubles. Love blossoms between the German crown prince and the American girl – but the question remains: will the principality’s problems be resolved, and can the young couple be together? Thomas Mann’s Königliche Hoheit (Royal Highness) is a rarely mentioned early work – his second novel, following the 1901 Buddenbrooks – published in 1909. With its blend of fairy-tale and even Hollywood-like motifs, the story served as inspiration for György Selmeczi’s opera. The world premiere is directed by Máté Szabó, who has previously staged several of the composer’s works.

János Vajda

The Verdict

Traps, a travelling salesman, finds himself stranded one night when his car breaks down. With no other options, he seeks shelter in a nearby house, where he is not only offered lodging and dinner but also receives an unexpectedly warm welcome. Four retired gentlemen and a housekeeper invite him in. Traps accepts their hospitality and even joins in their peculiar game. The retirees take on the roles of their former professions – a judge, a lawyer, a prosecutor, and an executioner. All that’s missing for their mock trial is a defendant, a role the newcomer unwittingly assumes. As the evening progresses, with exquisite dishes and fine wines flowing, the game gradually becomes more serious… Following the 2020 opera The Imaginary Invalid, the same creative trio – composer János Vajda, librettist Szabolcs Várady, and scriptwriter Diána Eszter Mátrai – delight audiences once again with an adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s novella A Dangerous Game, directed by Máté Szabó.