Budapest has a well-established culture in classical music, a heritage that the country has managed to preserve throughout its turbulent history.
The history of the Opera is well documented and can be found on many websites, so here I just want to refresh your memory and list its main events.
This neoclassical building was completed in 1875 after nine years of construction. The new building under royal patronage was called the Royal Opera House of Hungary.
As usual, Emperor Franz Joseph opened it with a patriotic opera piece called Bánk Bán under the baton of Ferencz Erkel.
Since its inauguration, the building has weathered two world wars, a revolution, the communist era, and went through numerous crises. It is now known as the Hungarian State Opera and has the support of the government of the day, regardless of its political orientation.
Visiting Western tourists will find ticket prices at incredible value. You can buy your tickets online well in advance, paying with all major credit cards. Be sure to look for an interpretation with an English subtitle or you will have a Hungarian translation of the original language. My husband now knows Italian singing well with German or Hungarian subtitles! Much more fun if you have to guess what is going on!
Going back to the building, most of the original fresco glorifying music and the arts was unfortunately destroyed, but has since been repainted. The best surviving interior feature is the King’s staircase that rises through the middle of the lobby to the auditorium and bars.
The interior is adorned with statues and paintings depicting famous Hungarian composers, musicians and singers.
The auditorium is of traditional European design, in the shape of a horseshoe with several levels. The royal box is located in the middle of the private boxes on the first level. A word of warning, it is quite difficult to sit in the seats for a long time. This is due to the acoustic reasoning above that seats should have thin padding. Of course, there is no need to adhere to this fact so closely as many of the best opera houses in the world have fully padded seats, which are much kinder to the human body without compromising the acoustic quality of the auditorium.
When going to the theater in Budapest, especially the Opera, we recommend that you wear a semi-formal suit and leave your jeans well warned at the hotel.
Turning now to acting.
We were really looking forward to our night at the Opera, choosing Madame Butterfly as our first visit this season, and we were not disappointed, although my husband, a theater consultant, found that the lighting lacked imagination and the set was old and worn. . I must say that I found the set a bit too static, comparing this in my memory to the English National Opera’s version in London with its dramatic use of red, white and black sets.
However, when it came to the main points, namely the singing and the music, we were rewarded with a couple of very well matched performers who played Pinkerton and Cio-Cio-San, the latter being almost impossible to tell. emulate like Cio-Cio-San. he’s only supposed to be 15 years old!
Both singers were young people with tremendous voices and they told the story in a heartfelt way. American Consul Sharpless and Maid Suzuki delivered well-balanced supporting performances, worthy of this tragic tale. The Opera has a great, very fine orchestra, which played with great spirit.
My husband’s first words when looking for a drink were: Where is the bar? We ordered Hungarian sparkling wine, although they mistakenly call it champagne. The waiter gave us less than a full measure, and I was so shocked that I completely forgot to complain! Yes, it doesn’t cost £ 10 a glass, but we would have liked a full glass!
After the performance we headed towards the charming old “Little Metro”, as the natives affectionately call it, and in thirty minutes we reached our attic.
We will be back for more for sure! The music was uplifting, professional, and the experience was worth the money. Next is another favorite, La Boheme!