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During his tenure, Zoltán Kocsis felt it was important to include complete operas on the programme of the Hungarian National Philharmonic – a conviction to which we owe both the orchestra’s memorable Richard Strauss productions and the reconstruction (itself credited to Kocsis) of Schönberg’s Moses und Aron. György Vashegyi also considers it a matter of importance for the orchestra and choir to offer a special experience to their audience by occasionally performing a complete opera. The first performance on the schedule for the Hungarian National Philharmonic’s Opera season ticket is Verdi’s Aida, one of the most popular works of the musical theatre of all time – starring an international cast.
Giuseppe Verdi composed Aida to a libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. The four-act opera was first performed at the Cairo Opera House on 24 December 1871, under the baton of the double-bass virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini. As it was primarily heads of state and other politicians who attended this event, Verdi, who did not even go to Egypt, regarded the Milan performance in February 1872 as the work’s true world premiere. Roberta Mantegna, the Italian soprano portraying the title character in this production by the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra (HNPO), won the Concorso Internazionale Toti dal Monte in Treviso in 2015 and the Concours International de Belcanto Vincenzo Bellini in Marseille the following year while Radames will be portrayed by the Korean tenor Alfred Kim, who won one international competition in Vienna in 1997, and another in Munich a year later. The international flavour of the production will be underscored by the Brazilian mezzo-soprano Victória Pitts as Amneris and the Romanian baritone Alexandru Agache, who will bring the part of Amonasro to life. The Hungarian singers joining them – such as András Palerdi (Ramfis), István Kovács (King), Jenő Dékán (Messenger) and Gabriella Busa (High Priestess) – will also contribute to the high standard of the evening. Anyone who has watched Italian conductor Riccardo Frizza, who has grown increasingly popular in Hungary in recent years, at work on the podium knows that this performance is in good hands.
Presented by: Hungarian National Philharmonic
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Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on the day of the performance. Upon entering the car park, you can either scan the barcode or QR code on your concert ticket, or take a parking ticket and validate it together with your concert ticket at one of the payment machines. Either option will enable you to exit through the gates operated by the number plate recognition system. We recommend that you plan to arrive at Müpa in good time, so that you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and without difficulty and arrive at your performance comfortably. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
