Five special performances will be shown in five consecutive nights in Müpa, Budapest and in MuTh Theatre, Vienna.
This is Icelandic Opera’s first guest performance in Hungary. On the opening day of the Festival in Müpa they will perform Daníel Bjarnason’s opera Brothers, directed by the internationally acclaimed Kasper Holten.
Deep and serious questions are raised in this story. Is there a limit of self-preservation? Is it a sin to kill out of self-defense?
Kasper Holten is the father of the so-called “Northern-style” opera; the performance is a real rarity for opera lovers.
Brothers
On the 3rd of July another exciting premiere will be held in the Festival Theatre of Müpa: Annelies Van Parys’s contemporary work The diary of one who disappeared. The Belgian production is directed by Ivo van Hove, who is well-known for his extraordinarily modern stage-directions. He has directed several plays and musical pieces. He also worked, for example, with David Bowie in the musical Lazarus, and will stage West side story on Broadway in New York next February. The opera performed in Armel Opera Festival deals with issues like passion, exclusion and identity, through the story of a crazy, unrequited love.
The diary of one who disappeared
On the last day, on the 6th of July Mozart’s masterpiece Don Giovanni will be performed by a company of a distant country, in the unconventional stage direction of Róbert Alföldi. The premiere was a huge success in Ecuador on the 19th of June. In the Festival it will be held in Müpa, performed by the Pannon Philharmonic, under the baton of Tibor Bogányi.
Don Giovanni (photo: YoSoy Foto, Ecuador)
On the 4th and 5th of July two Hungarian productions will be shown in Vienna: Mozart’s The marriage of Figaro played by the Orchestra and Chorus of the National Theatre of Győr, in the exciting stage-direction of Máté Szabó.
Next day, the first performance of Csaba Horváth’s and Marcell Dargay’s opera Away, no matter where will be performed with the participation of the artists of Forte Company and MuTh Theatre, conducted by Ádám Medveczky. This is Csaba Horváth’s first opera stage-direction.
The marriage of Figaro
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This year Armel Opera Festival launches a free shuttle service again from the parking lot of Novotel Budapest City (1123 Budapest, Alkotás u. 63-67.) to MuTh Theatre, Vienna at 2 p.m. on the 4th and 5th of July. The bus leaves for Budapest immediately after the performance. After registration you can get on the ARMEL bus with a theatre ticket valid for the given day. Please register at: Ez az e-mail-cím a szpemrobotok elleni védelem alatt áll. Megtekintéséhez engedélyeznie kell a JavaScript használatát.
PROGRAM of the Festival
As in the previous years, all Armel Opera Festival shows are broadcast live on the French-German Arte Concert channel. The recorded performances can be accessed on the channel’s website for another six months.
On the website of Arte Concert the audience can vote for the best performance until 9 a.m., July 4th.
The winning performance will be awarded the Audience Prize.
Live broadcast and voting:
2 July: Brothers
3 July: The Diary of one who disappeared
4 July: The marriage of Figaro
5 July: Away, no matter where
6 July: Don Giovanni
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About the Festival
Armel Opera Festival is a unique operatic event that has presented opera rarities and, in particular, contemporary works since 2008. The international jury of the Armel Opera Competition assesses the singers’ vocal qualities their acting skills. The singers selected in two rounds of the competition are offered the main roles in one of the festival productions, and in the final stage of the challenge, they can prove their talent in this particular Armel Opera Festival presentation to win the Award for Best Performer. All Armel Opera Festival shows are broadcast live on the French-German Arte Concert channel annually, the recorded performances can be accessed by opera-loving audiences on the channel’s website for another six months.
More information: www.armelfestival.org
