Following the performances of Viktor Ullman’s moving opera, The Emperor of Atlantis two years ago, which was written in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, the Budapest Mahlerfest audience is now treated to a children’s opera, Brundibár by Hans Krása. It received its world première in a Prague Jewish orphanage in 1943; the composer had spent the last year as an inmate of the Theresienstadt concentration camp. His opera was the most successful work of the camp’s music life: it was performed fi...fty five times. Its singers and musicians were constantly changed because children were not spared from the Auschwitz deportations either, and of the five thousand prisoners, only three hundred survived until liberation. Hans Krása himself died in the Auschwitz gas chambers sometime in October 1944. The conductor of the Theresienstadt performances was Rudolf Freudenfeld, and some of the names of the child soloists in the first performance have somehow survived: Pinta Mühlstein (Pepiček), Greta Hoffmeisterová (Aninka), Zdeněk Ohrenstein (Dog), Eva Steinová (Cat) and Honza Treichlinger (Brundibár). The work is about two poor young children, Aninka and Pepiček, who want to buy milk for their sick mother, but the milkman won’t speak to them, as they don’t have money. They decide to earn money for the milk by singing, but Brundibár, the barrel organist, regards them as competition and thrusts them aside. With the aid of Dog, Cat and Sparrow as well as a host of other animals, through the power of friendship, the children’s song triumphs and Aninka and Pepiček can bring their mother milk. The opera was originally written in part with an audience of children in mind, so besides adults, it is recommended for 7–14 year olds as well.
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
Safe ticket purchase
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