“Nixon in China is John Adams' most successful opera to date and, from the point of view of contemporary American music as a whole, one of the most celebrated operas. In his documentary work, Adams solves the dispassion of news reports with the tools of music, and although the work is about the US president's five-day visit to China, the music is not a conveyor of a political message. The tragicomic power of Adams' music largely stems from the contrast between the two worlds and customs,” writes Zoltán Csehy in his opera guide. Nixon in China has become a globally popular opera performed more frequently in recent times due to the exciting theme of the meeting of the American and Chinese cultures. Therefore, its Hungarian premiere is also timely. Presented in the OPERA’s Anglophone Season, artistic director András Almási-Tóth used the special spaces of the Eiffel Art Studios with exciting imagination.

Nixon In China

Eiffel Art Studios

Thanks to the spectacular development of our Orchestra and Chorus, since 2020 we have been able to perform Mahler’s enormous creation at the beginning of each season as a sort of preparation. Each year, it is directed by a different conductor. The work was last performed in Hungary 13 years before our grand undertaking: Hungary was first able to perform it in 1983 (!) and it has been played on two occasions since by the ad hoc companies of various artistic institutions. There is hardly a more appropriate piece for launching our Opera Total orchestra series than this powerful symphony, which will involve almost every single one of our musicians, who in themselves could make up a number of orchestras

Symphony No. 8

Hungarian State Opera

Proclaiming (notably with the popular “Hallelujah” chorus) the coming and resurrection of the Saviour, Messiah remains to this day one of the most popular of Handel’s works. A little under half a century after its 1742 world premiere in Dublin, it was performed for the first time in the revised and rescored German-language version Der Messias created by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The “German Messiah” thus is the fruit of an extraordinary “collaboration” between two geniuses: the scintillating brilliance of Händel as interpreted by Mozart.

Rita Rácz

Events

Upcoming events

21 - 28 Dec, 2024

DER MESSIAS (MESSIAH) – concert · Hungarian State Opera

Past events

Oct 5, 2024

Nixon In China · Hungarian State Opera

Oct 1, 2024

Symphony No. 8 · Hungarian State Opera

Future and recently performed repertoire

Chiang Ch’ing in Nixon in China by Adams

Hungarian State Opera

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