In December 2001 the Hungarian State Opera House revived András Mikó’s staging of Don Carlos in tribute to the former principal director. Gábor Forray’s spectacular scenery and Tivadar Márk’s splendid costumes were also renewed for the occasion. The Italian-language performance offers excellent roles for leading singers. The composer wrote the opera for the Paris Opera, basing the libretto on Schiller’s drama. Both works have little in common with the real, historical persons, being much more concerned with eternal human conflicts, the desire for freedom, love and intrigue. The première in 1867 brought only modest success and the revised version created for the Milan Scala a decade and a half later was not a triumph for the composer either. The version adapted later with the contribution of Franz Werfel, after Verdi’s death (now the most frequently performed and the version that can also be seen in Budapest) fulfilled the hopes of those who believed in the power of this opera.

The composer devoted special attention to the libretto based on Shakespeare’s drama. In a letter he gave instructions to Francesco Maria Piave, the librettist, to study the 11th century Scottish environment. However, it can be said that the opera is closer to a modern psychological drama. Verdi was in advance of his age in thinking about his heroes and linking the dramatic situations in an almost cinematic way. This aspect is reinforced by Henning Brockhaus’s production, first created for the Rome Opera House, then in September 2002 also staged in the Budapest Opera House. Verdi composed Macbeth on a request from Florence and although the première in 1847 was less successful than expected it was soon performed elsewhere as well. The National Theatre of Pest-Buda staged it in 1848 with the primadonna of the time, Rozália Klein Schodel as Lady Macbeth. The female lead is the key figure in any good production of Macbeth. Brockhaus’s production cannot be linked to any particular period, the scenery and costumes do not place the dramatic events in a specific time or place but put the emphasis on the psychological conflicts.

On this occasion the orchestra, which has been operating continuously for a century and a half, will present an American programme. One of the reasons for the choice is that the ensemble’s artistic director, the conductor Rico Saccani who grew up in an Italian family was born in the United States and so obviously feels a greater affinity to the music of his native land; another reason is that the works of 20th century American composers are rarely heard in Hungarian concert halls. Aaron Copland’s name is relatively well known to the European public. The orchestra will play his suite, Billy the Kid. The music, based on a Wild West story familiar from films, is one of Copland’s three ballet compositions. The average music-lover is probably less familiar with Ferdinand von Grofé. He was born in New York in 1892 and died in Santa Monica in 1972. The Grand Canyon suite in five movements composed in 1931 is generally considered to be his most important and characteristic work. The composition, slightly more than 30 minutes in length, is often coupled with Billy the Kid on concert programmes, for reasons that the audience will discover.

The Bordeaux National Opera’s Ballet Ensemble has been directed since 1996 by Charles Jude, the outstanding ballet artist, proud owner of the title “Danseur étoile de l'Opéra de Paris”, a student of Serge Lifar and Rudolf Nureyev. He left the front ranks of the ballet world to go to Bordeaux where he transformed a small, provincial ballet ensemble into a world class company. Within a few years his efforts were crowned with success. Jude is still an active dancer and many people will still remember his brilliant roles in the gala evening during the 2003 Budapest Spring Festival: Three Centuries of French Choreography – Stars of French Ballet. In this representative selection Jude danced Georges Piletta’s Pierrot solo and, together with his partner, Stéphanie Roublot, the duet from Serge Lifar’s Suite en blanc.
As the artistic director of the Bordeaux company and this year’s performance, Jude strives to reconstruct and preserve the repertoire of this company with a long past and at the same time to continuously expand it. The ensemble now has in its repertoire works of leading American, Dutch, English and French choreographers as well as Marius Petipa’s Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda and Nutcracker, Giselle, Coppélia, Don Quijote and other great classical ballets.
As a choreographer Jude, who grew up in Vietnam and was exposed to exciting cultural influences, has attracted attention with his creations that reinterpret a number of classical stories: his Coppélia, for example, with its special visual world, is set in New York in the 1950s, transporting the viewer into the world of film musicals hallmarked by the figures of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. For the past seven years an important goal of Nureyev’s former favourite student and dancer and the company he directs has been to cultivate living dance traditions that are still valid today, and to present the best contemporary choreographies. In recognition of the French company’s activity for the cultivation of traditions and preservation of values, in 2001 it was awarded the Prix Serge Lifar, an award that the company’s director, Charles Jude, has had since 1988.
They have chosen five productions for their first gala evening in Budapest. The first is Paul Taylor’s Aureole, created in 1962, a piece that has been enormously successful and was one of the highlights in the career of the American choreographer. Ivan Favrier created his Febrile for the Ballet du Rhine; here the duet will be performed. Thierry Manaldain’s Sextet was created in 1996, Jacques Garnier’s Aunis was first performed in 1979 and a year later he reworked it from a solo into a trio. The final item is The Moor’s Pavane by José Limón, a highly influential choreography created in 1949 that is known and performed throughout the world. The Hungarian public had the opportunity to admire it in the “original” a few years ago in a performance in Budapest by the Limón Dance Company. This work by one of the most influential figures of modern dance is a fitting choice to end the programme selected by Charles Jude from half a century of dance.

Janáček: Jenufa
The Moravian composer’s three-act opera is set in a village. Janáček, like Bartók and Kodály later, considered it his vocation to draw from the source of Czech folk music. The story of the opera is said to be based on real events; it is certainly a drama with dark elements that could come from a detective story. The basic situation is familiar from Hungarian ballads: the sufferings of a defenceless girl who has fallen into temptation. Two men vie for Jenufa; she does not love one of them, Laca and she is expecting a child from the other, Steva. Laca wounds her and while Jenufa is ill in bed after the confinement, her foster mother kills the baby boy. Steva abandons her but Laca would still marry the girl. They are preparing for the wedding when someone finds the baby’s body… The première of the opera in Brno was a success but it was not until after the Prague performance in 1916 that the opera had a real impact. The production in the Opera House in 2004 is directed by Attila Vidnyánszky.

Verdi: Falstaff
Like Don Carlos, the last Verdi opera is also a fresh revival; the original performance was directed by Gianfranco de Bosio. Arrigo Boito’s libretto about Falstaff’s pranks is based on Shakespeare’s comedy. The 1893 première in the Milan Scala was an enormous success. Verdi had been drawn to the theme much earlier; he thought about setting it to music in the 1850s. But it was not until 1890 that he began work on the composition with surprising energy, after a series of private and public troubles and illnesses. The singers accepted the eighty-year-old master’s instructions with great respect. Falstaff’s great cheer and the unusually modern tone for Verdi make each performance a special occasion.