Péter Eötvös’s new opera takes us to a bare, grey world of an unknown yet familiar small town, and reveals the tragi-comedy world of the protagonist, newspaper delivery man, János Valuska. In the tradition of the Shakespearean fool, Valuska is different from the townspeople. He is an innocent, infatuated with astronomy and man’s position in the universe. The arrival in town of a circus - with, as star attraction, the world’s largest taxidermied whale - has explosive consequences.
With its world premiere on 2 December 2023, Valuska is an important event for the Hungarian State Opera and, more widely, for all those interested in opera today. Péter Eötvös, the internationally acclaimed composer who celebrates his 80th birthday in January 2024, was commissioned by the Hungarian State Opera in 2018 to compose his 13th opera and his first in Hungarian. It is based on the 1989 novel The Melancholy of Resistance by László Krasznahorkai, who won the International Man Booker Prize in 2015. ‘Valuska, a young man with a pure heart, becomes a victim of a manipulative society in the shadow of a stuffed whale’ says Péter Eötvös. He has transformed the novel into a performance that combines several genres of opera and theatre with the grotesque. This is a bare, grey world but one with a lot of humour, where the surreal turns painfully believable.
Full performance streamed on OperaVision from 19 January 2024 at 19:00 CET to 19 July 2024 at 12:00 CET: [ Ссылка ]
CAST
János Valuska
Zsolt Haja
Hagelmayer / Narrator
Tünde Szalontay
Mrs Pflaum
Adrienn Miksch
Tünde
Tünde Szabóki
A peasant woman
Mária Farkasréti
Professor
András Hábetler
Man in broadcloth coat / Senior officer
Krisztián Cser
Director
István Horváth
The Prince’s aide
Balázs Papp univ. stud.
Nadabán
Lőrinc Kósa
Mádai
András Kiss
Volent
János Szerekován
Ticket inspector
Zoltán Bátki Fazekas
An officer
Attila Erdős
Men
Benjámin Beeri
Ninh Duc Hoang Long
Gergely Halász univ.stud.
Bence Pataki
Gergely Ujvári
Botond Pál
Donát Varga
Orchestra
Hungarian State Opera Orchestra
Chorus
Hungarian State Opera Chorus
Music
Péter Eötvös
Text
Kinga Keszthelyi
Mari Mezei
Conductor
Kálmán Szennai
Director
Bence Varga
Sets
Botond Devich
Costume
Kató Huszár
Lights
Sándor Baumgartner
Artistic assistants
Sylvie Gábor
Andrea Valkai
Musical assistants
Pálma Hidegkuti
Jean Klára
Bálint Zsoldos
Assistant Conductor
Levente Zsíros
Chorus Master
Gábor Csiki
OperaVision is a freeview opera streaming platform, supported by the European Union's Creative Europe programme. Watch live streams as the performances themselves unfold in the opera house. Enjoy a variety of shows - including opera, operetta, musical theatre, dance, ballet and concerts. Opera connaisseur or curious newcomer, there is something for everyone on OperaVision.
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