# Budapest, six operas and a chamber concert in five days (April 2016)



## Don Fatale (Aug 31, 2009)

This trip was a day or two longer than I wanted but the flights don't go every day. Luckily there was something to see every evening. I found a modest hotel around the back of the Corinthia, which makes it equidistant between the two opera houses, and very convenient for the other two venues in this trip.

A delayed flight together with a 6pm curtain-up means I have to go straight from the airport to the State Opera's *The Queen of Spades*. I discover why it's an early start - we're being treated to an uncut version, making Act II a ravishing spectacle of song and ballet. Vladimir Galouzine (that rare thing - a Russian tenor) is Hermann, the elegant dramatic soprano Szilvia Ralik as Lisa. Both are more than capable in their roles, and with a lush period production I'm pretty happy with this opera experience. Alas, the orchestra sounded a little ragged and brassy to these ears, I wanted a more silvery tone.

A curious aside - at the second interval -= spent as always on the elegant front balcony overlooking Andrassy Avenue - I was in the company of a rather chic French lady. We'd given each other the eye in the first interval and seemed to agree we'd meet up at the second. _I'm with Hermann_ (Galouzine) she says nonchalantly, offering me a cigarette from a silver case. That's the first time in my life I've regretted being a non-smoker! We mainly talk about opera in Paris. A most charming interval. And no, she wasn't the tenor's wife. ;-)

Day two - *The Rake's Progress*. I've seen this modern and clear production before. It's very good, at least as good as Stravinsky´s score in my view. (Oh why couldn't he write operas like his ballets?)

Day three - A Saturday morning chamber concert at the Liszt museum (his former residence on Andrassy). The recital concludes with Liszt's monumental b-flat sonata. What a place to experience this! If you're in Budapest on a Saturday morning, look out for these concerts. It's a very small hall, or rather a large salon, so booking is advised. Afterwards I visited the Liszt museum on my combined concert and museum ticket. It's small but filled with interesting items and well worth the modest entry fee.

The evening of Day Three finds me at the Erkel Theatre, and gives me a box tick - my first *Der Freischutz*. This is a low budget, modern update. An early contender for my weirdest and worst production of the year award. I can't even begin to describe it, other than having some of the worst dancing (sort of deliberate) I've ever seen. I'm still not sure if I've seen Der Freischutz! On the plus side, the music and singing were excellent. It's really a fine work that deserves to be more widely performed, but not with this production.

Day four, and I'm back at the Erkel for opera's most famous double bill - *Cav & Pag*. In the 28 years since my first opera, I've always been in the wrong place at the wrong time, now I finally have a live Cav & Pag. It's a good one. Both operas use elements of the same production which was low on budget (although still managed a live horse) but perfectly acceptable.
Overall this was the best evening of the trip. Bulgarian Kamen Chanev takes on both main roles, and he is in fine voice. While it's wonderful to hear the world's top tenors and sopranos now and then, I appreciate seeing mainstream opera singers giving a first rate performance, and this was the case tonight.

My fifth and final evening gives me the chance to visit the Liszt Academy and its Solti Hall. This is a small theatre with a stage and pit suitable for chamber operas. The opera is *Orontea*, by Antonio Cesti, a very popular work back in the lat 17th century, i.e. somewhere between Monteverdi and Bach. It is part of the Spring Festival and partly cast with students, inevitably it's a modern setting, as far as I can tell, set in a _sports bra shop_. Cliches of selfies and text messages abound. The theme of removing bras (from underneath baggy sweatshirts) was entertaining enough, but alas the meaning of the story was largely lost on me with only Hungarian surtitles. The singer of the night was Emőke Baráth in the title role, who's voice is pure quality. Trust me, she's definitely on the way to big things. It was a pretty entertaining evening for a flat price of around €5!

So that's it. 6 operas and a violin/piano recital in 5 days, and a lot of walking the city too. Budapest is great!


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