The 13 January 2021 OperaWednesday featured two short operas based on works by Gyula Krúdy and István Örkény, two important Hungarian writers of the 20th century. The highlights from The Gold and the Woman and The Tót Family were streamed from the Sándor Hevesi Stage of the Eiffel Art Studios from 8:00 p.m. on Facebook and Origo.hu.
Jenő Kenessey: The Gold and the Woman
An opera based on Gyula Krúdy's eponymous play was commissioned by legendary director of the Hungarian State Opera, Kálmán Nádasdy long ago: The Gold and the Woman was Jenő Kenessey's sole foray into the genre of opera and, at the same time, one of the most popular Hungarian works for decades after its premiere in 1943. The piece shows how foolish it is for a man to give up a woman’s love in exchange for the clinking of gold, who, in the end, loses everything in his lust for money.
István Örkény – Péter Tóth: The Tót Family
Libretto based on Róbert Bognár and András Schlanger's adaptation of István Örkény's novella of the same title by Szabolcs Várady
The Tót Family is one of the most important novellas and plays in Hungarian literature, which, following the emblematic Fábri–Latinovits film and a slew of theatrical productions still competing with each other to this day, found a place for itself in the genre of opera. The world premiere of composer Péter Tóth's opera took place at the Eiffel Art Studios in 2019. The Major, the protagonist of the story, visits the family of an ensign to recuperate, who attend to his every wish. That is, until the cardboard cutting machine slices down for the last time...
Soloists:
The Gold and the Woman – Boldizsár László, Ildikó Megyimórecz, István Kovács, Ferenc Cserhalmi, Tivadar Kiss
The Tót Family – Boldizsár László, László Szvétek, Júlia Vajda, Helga Nánási, Ferenc Cserhalmi, Géza Zsigmond
Artistic director of the performance: Sylvie Gábor
Pianist: Pálma Hidegkuti
Conductor: Balázs Kocsár
Narrator: Dániel Mona
The performance can be viewed HERE.
Photo by Valter Berecz