Easter with Mascagni Messa di Gloria and Cavalleria Rusticana

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April 2025
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Concert performances with Hungarian, English, and same-language subtitles

Performance length: 2 hours 50 minutes, with 1 intermission.

 

Messa di Gloria - Pietro Mascagni

Those who have seen Mascagni’s famous one-act Cavalleria rusticana will never forget the Easter Hymn. The tragic story taking place at Easter is a perfect match for Messa di Gloria, which exudes the euphoria of resurrection, but which is above all a Southern Italian mass of innocent faith. It is also of no little relevance that Mascagni himself rehearsed and conducted his opera in Budapest, and as rumour has it, its success here ignited it like a rocket on its way to becoming a worldwide sensation.

 

Cavalleria rusticana - Pietro Mascagni

The world literally went crazy for this one-act by Pietro Mascagni when he burst onto the opera scene with his daring work that opened new boundaries for the genre, and which hundreds of others would attempt to imitate. Such was its success that he would never equal it in any of his later works. In one of the chief examples of verismo, Mascagni's protagonists are everyday people who fall victim to their own, unbridled passions.

Captivating and sensual music with gripping dramatic tension. Love, jealousy – and revenge.

Program and cast

Messa di Gloria - Pietro Mascagni

Conductor: Martin Rajna

Tenor: Boldizsár László

Baritone: Zoltán Kelemen

 

Cavalleria rusticana - Pietro Mascagni

Conductor: Martin Rajna

Turiddu: Boldizsár László

Santuzza: Erika Gál, Klára Vincze, Gabriella Balga

Lucia: Mária Farkasréti

Alfio: Antal Cseh

Lola: Melinda Heiter

Hungarian State Opera

STANDING ROOM TICKETS - INFORMATION IN CASE OF A FULL HOUSE!

If all the seats are sold out for the selected time, but you still want to see the production on that day, 84 of the extremely affordable standing seats will be sold at the theatre, 2 hours before the start of the performance, with which you can visit the gallery on the 3rd floor. Tickets can be purchased at the ticket office of the Budapest Opera House. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the stage can only be seen to a limited extent from the standing places and the side seats, but at the same time, following the performance is also supported by television broadcasting on the spot.

The Opera House is not only one of the most significant art relic of Budapest, but the symbol of the Hungarian operatic tradition of more than three hundred years as well. The long-awaited moment in Hungarian opera life arrived on September 27, 1884, when, in the presence of Franz Joseph I. the Opera House was opened amid great pomp and ceremony. The event, however, erupted into a small scandal - the curious crowd broke into the entrance hall and overran the security guards in order to catch a glimpse of the splendid Palace on Sugar út. Designed by Mikós Ybl, a major figure of 19th century Hungarian architecture, the construction lived up to the highest expectations. Ornamentation included paintings and sculptures by leading figures of Hungarian art of the time: Károly Lotz, Bertalan Székely, Mór Than and Alajos Stróbl. The great bronze chandelier from Mainz and the stage machinery moda by the Asphaleia company of Vienna were both considered as cutting-edge technology at that time.

 

Many important artists were guests here including Gustav Mahler, the composer who was director in Budapest from 1887 to 1891. He founded the international prestige of the institution, performing Wagner operas as well as Magcagni’ Cavalleria Rusticana. The Hungarian State Opera has always maintained high professional standards, inviting international stars like Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Monserrat Caballé, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, José Cura, Thomas Hampson and Juan Diego Flórez to perform on its stage. The Hungarian cast include outstanding and renowed artists like Éva Marton, Ilona Tokody, Andrea Rost, Dénes Gulyás, Attila Fekete and Gábor Bretz.

Attila Nagy
© Berecz Valter
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