The Eighth Hungarian Tribe, 1985 (12. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)

1985-11-01 / 11. szám

Mrs. Shodel in a guest appearance in the role of Norma (Bellini). Following her performance, she was immediately hired as a permanent member of the group and became the first educated, professionally trained artist in Hungarian opera.

When Paul Nyáry became director of the National Theatre, it consisted of 8 cantists, 28 musicians and a 24-member choir. They successfully presented Francis Erkel's first opera, 'Mary Báthori", with text written by Béni Egressy based on a Hungarian historical theme. On January 27, 1844, they presented one of the most successful Hungarian operas, 'Ladislaus Hunyadi", which had some revolutionary meaning, with Mrs. Shodel singing the lead role.

In 1846, they enjoyed great success performing Verdi's "Ernani" and "Nabucco". In both cases, Egressy translated the text, Francis Erkel conducted, and Miss Cornelia Hollósy sang the lead role. In 1848, they presented Verdi's “Macbeth" which also contained some hidden allusions to the freedom of the nation. Many other Verdi operas were presented because of Francis Erkel's fondness for them.

Erkel's greatest success was 'Bánk bán", first performed March 6, 1861. "Bánk bán was performed IIO times in the National Theatre. Two other Hungarian musicians, Michael Mosonyi and Francis Doppler, composed operas in this same time period, but were never as successful as Erkel.

In 1861 Mór Jókai came up with the idea of constructing a new building for the performance of opera and pursued that idea with the president of the Common Work Council, Mr. Gedeon Ráday, in 1865. They divided the National Theatre into two groups, with Francis Erkel as the leader of the opera-ensemble. The city of Budapest gave a piece of ground, known as "Square Hermina", to the theater at no charge. They then began collecting donations for the building itself. Mr. Frederick Podmaniczky, deputy-president of the Capital Common Work Council, however, bought that piece of ground and in return donated land in "Blaha Lujza" square, named after Mrs. Blaha, to the theater. The new theatre was built there between 1872 and 1875.

Mr. Nicolas Ybl made the plans for the new Opera-house. The hall, corridors and gangways received marmoreal walls. The lodges were covered with red velvet, the columns were gold in color. The seats were covered with plush red material and the stage had a large red velvet curtain. Only the iron curtain had a bluish tint. Mr. Ybl made large areas of the Opera-house into museums. The frescos on the ceiling, showing Olympus, were painted by the great Hungarian painters Charles Lotz, Bartholomew Székely, Maurice Than, and George Vastagh, among others. Mr. Ybl, himself, designed the beautiful motif of the handles and lustres. Many unknown masters worked in the preparation or the masternji inlaid parquets. Inside the building were several masterpieces of fine art, the statues of Franz Liszt and Francis Erkel, sculptured by Aladár Stróbl, the four Muses and 16 great composers on the balustrade.

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On June 30, 1884, "The Barber of Seville", the first opera performed in the old National Theatre, was the last opera performed there. The grand opening of the new Opera-house was on September 27, 1884. The program for the evening consisted of the overture and selected portions of Erkel's "Bánk bán", conducted by the composer, followed by Erkel’s overture of "Hunyadi László" and concluded with the overture of Wagner's "Lohengrin", conducted by Alexander Erkel, Francis' brother.

The Opera-house was among the best, with many well-known guests appearing. After 96 years, the building required restoration which took four years to complete. During that time another opera-house named Theatre Erkel was used. This theatre was not up to par with what the patrons or the artists were accustomed to, but it served the purpose. On the 100th year anniversary of the opening of the Opera-house, they re-opened the beautifully restored theatre. The interior, paintings and statues were restored to their former glory. The electrical and mechanical systems were modernized, the most visible effect of this being that the orchestra could now be lifted automatically.

The first program in the restored Opera-house partly repeated the original program of its inauguration. To start off the evening, the National Hymn was sung by the choir of the Opera-house, next came the overture of "Hunyladi László, then the second act of Erkel's "Bánk bán", which was dedicated to and performed by Mr. Joseph Simándy. Simándy is said to be the greatest interpreter of Bánk. The next item presented was the only ballet of Béla Bartók, "The Prince, Curved by Wood", and the finálé was Zoltán Kodály's "Hungarian Psalm".

The beautifully arranged program represented not only the inaugural program of 1884, but also the evolution of Hungarian opera music, through world-famous composers Béla Bartók (who died in the U.S.A.), and Zoltán Kodály. It was felt that this program was a good start for another century of Hungarian opera music and for the Hungarian State Opera-house.

Eighth Hungarian Tribe