Most people think of Schubert as a composer of art songs, piano works, chamber music and symphonies. Fewer know that the short-lived composer, who composed so many masterpieces but enjoyed so little success, also tried his hand at opera. One of the most outstanding of these experiments is Alfonso und Estrella, a true rarity that we will now get to experience in a historical interpretation performed by an international cast of soloists joining the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Aapo Häkkinen, who has led the orchestra for the past 20 years.
Schubert composed his three-act German Romantic opera about the love story of Alfonso and Estrella in 1822, to a libretto by Franz von Schober. The work was never staged in his lifetime - having been rejected by the opera houses of Vienna, Berlin, Dresden and Graz. It was first conducted by Liszt, in Weimar in 1854. The Helsinki Baroque Orchestra has been in operation since 1997. Infused with the spirit of exploration, their productions both shed new light on long-known works and shine a spotlig...ht on unfamiliar ones. Their guest conductors have included the likes of Reinhard Goebel, René Jacobs and Enrico Onorfi, and they have been joined by such guest artists as Isabelle Faust, Erich Höbarth, Franco Fagioli and Julia Leznyeva. Aapo Häkkinen, the orchestra's artistic director, started his career as a chorister. A versatile musician, working as a harpsichordist, organist and conductor, he is well versed with the styles of many composers, ranging from Monteverdi and Handel to Paisiello and Haydn, and is a regular guest at major international festivals. The international cast of singers for the performance includes luminaries from Germany, Croatia, Norway and Finland, while the chorus, Soma Szabó's Cantemus Mixed Choir, is the the globally celebrated pride of both Nyíregyháza and the Hungarian music world.
Presented by: Müpa Budapest
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.
Refreshments – Without the Queue
Thanks to our new catering service at the Átrium Snack Bar, you can forget about waiting in line during intermissions for some refreshments and get your order prepped especially for you by the time the intermission actually starts. Find out more about pre-ordering here.
Safe ticket purchase
Dear Visitors, please note that only tickets purchased from the Müpa website and official ticket offices are guaranteed to be valid. To avoid possible inconvenience, we suggest buying tickets to our performances and concerts via the mupa.hu website, the Interticket national network (jegy.hu) or at our official ticket offices.
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