Miskolc Opera Festival

Music of Hungary
General topics
Portal
Genres
Specific forms
Media and performance
Music awards
Music charts Mahasz
Music festivals
Music media

Print media

  • Metal Hammer

Music television

Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem "Himnusz"
Other Szózat
Székely Himnusz

The Miskolc Opera Festival or International Opera Festival of Miskolc (Miskolci Nemzetközi Operafesztivál) is a cultural event held every summer in Miskolc, the capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Hungary. The event offers a selection of opera performances with the participations of famous artists from all over the world and was created by Péter Müller Sziámi, the former art director of the National Theatre of Miskolc in 2001.

The main venue is the National Theatre of Miskolc, the current building dating from 1847. The main auditorium (capacity 687), the summer theatre (500) and chamber theatre (270) are used for stage works. Concerts also take place in the Ice Hall (winter sports hall), the House of the Arts and churches such as the Protestant Church, Kossuth u, as well as in public squares.

It is also called "Bartók + ... Opera Festival", because each year the festival focuses on the works of Bartók plus another composer or composers. There are chamber recitals alongside the operatic performances as well as events for children and films.

Some productions are from visiting companies; in 2009 Moscow Helikon Opera, Szeged National Theatre and Latvian National Opera were among these.

During festival time MVK Rt. operates a veteran tram which stops outside the theatre, where regular trams do not stop, and is free for festival patrons with tickets.

Since 2001, festivals have had as their theme;

Classical Rock shows

In 2007 the festival contained a concert of the Swedish rock band Therion with a complete symphonic orchestra and choir, the second such performance of them ever. The show included a full orchestral version of their song "Clavicula Nox", and music by Antonín Dvořák, Giuseppe Verdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Camille Saint-Saëns and Richard Wagner. The second part of the show featured the band's assorted songs, in which classical instruments and choir have a significant role.

After the great success of this concert, the tradition of rock-classical events was established under the name "Opera-Rock-Show". For the 2008 festival the Dutch band Epica was invited to play. As Therion a year before, they also played their own songs in addition to classical pieces by many classical composers including Vivaldi, Dvořák, Verdi, Grieg, plus soundtracks of the movies Star Wars, Spider-Man and Pirates of the Caribbean.

The 2010 Festival featured two concerts: one of by the Hungarian rock band Republic and the other by Tarja Turunen, who was originally scheduled for 2009, but due to organisatory problems it was postponed. The shows have been seemingly discontinued in the following years, there were neither plans, no rumours about more acts.

Both Therion's and Epica's performances were released as a live album in 2009 by Nuclear Blast Records. While Epica issued only a double CD with the name The Classical Conspiracy, Therion also had DVD recordings called The Miskolc Experience.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/14/2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.