Polish Eötvös opera premiere with assistance of the Liszt Academy

The composer himself conducted the opening performance of the 4th Contemporary Opera Festival organized within the framework of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM). Krisztina Lisztopád, who as co-creator with András Almási-Tóth was also responsible for the stage set of the Liszt Academy's production of Magic Flute, designed the scenery for Angels in America while Gyula Rab, who graduated from the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music as an opera singer last year, performed the role of Louis. In December 2014 a Budapest audience can see the young tenor as Tamino in the Sir Georg Solti Chamber Hall, while Maurice Lenhard who plays Joe in the Wroclaw Angels in America stays within the Eötvös oeuvre, and following the Polish premiere he takes to the stage of the Liszt Academy in Lady Sarashina on 17 and 19 October 2014. Costume designer of the opera presentation jointly organized with the CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival will also be Krisztina Lisztopád, while the director and stage designer will be András Almási-Tóth, opera programme director of the Liszt Academy.

Photo: Opera Wroclawska / Marek Grotowski (Gyula Rab second from left)

Although the 70-year-old Péter Eötvös was always attracted to theatre in its wider sense (including the theatricality of traditional concerts and even film music), he was only smitten by the world of opera after the Lyon debut of his Three Sisters based on the Chekov play in 1998. After Three Sisters Eötvös, who follows the practice of 17-18th century opera composers in that he mainly works to commissions only, immediately set about writing As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams based on the diary of an 11th century Japanese lady. The personal observations of the women known as Lady Sarashina are extremely exciting not only for their historical significance but also for their literary value. As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams has been performed all over the world (it was played in 2001 at the Budapest Spring Festival, director: András Almási-Tóth; conductor: Gergely Vajda), yet it could not take rootmin opera houses. Thus when the Lyon Opera House requested Eötvös to create a new work in 2007, he together with co-writer and librettist Mária Mezei fashioned a genuine opera work out of the original, dividing the story of this perceptive woman into nine scenes. This is how Lady Sarashina came about, a work that up to now could not be heard in Hungary although it has garnered laurels both in France and Poland.