Following Jonas Kaufmann's concert to inaugurate park of the Eiffel Art Studios in 2020, the Zoltán Kodály Park is once again the venue to bring together the audience and international guest stars. The French coloratura soprano Patrica Petibon and the American bel canto tenor Lawrence Brownlee make their appearance at 7 p.m. on 21 August 2021 at an open-air concert at Eiffel Art Studios, the Hungarian State Opera's new artistic complex. The programme also features Hungarian soloists accompanied by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus. The gala is organised as part of a charity day to support the István Regőczi Foundation for Coronavirus Orphans. Addressing the audience will be Anita Herczegh, wife of the President of Hungary, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation.
During her career of a quarter century, Patricia Petibon has become renowned as a most versatile soprano whose wide repertoire ranges from Baroque music to contemporary compositions. Apart from French operas, she frequently performs works by Mozart and Verdi as well as rarities. The voice of the ever-youthful diva known for its flexibility and technique has been enchanting audiences at the greatest opera houses all over Europe from Barcelona to Vienna, from Paris to Milan.
With his velvety voice and good looks, Lawrence Brownlee has achieved fame of both sides of the Atlantic since his 2002 debut at the Virginia Opera. The role of Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia soon became his iconic role that he has also performed in renowned opera houses from the New York Metropolitan to the Wiener Staatsoper in a career of two decades. The repertoire of the lyric tenor is mostly focused on bel canto roles, operas by Rossini and Donizetti especially, which he frequently appears in all over the US and Western Europe.
In their joint gala concert at the Eiffel Art Studios, Petibon and Brownlee are to perform a selection of their opera favourites including Faust, La fille du régiment, Rigoletto, Traviata and Manon as well as pieces by European and American songwriters.
To follow the practice introduced at Jonas Kaufmann's concert in 2020, the programme of the international guest stars is preceded by the appearance of excellent Hungarian soloists – Zsuzsanna Ádám, Marcell Bakonyi, Anatoly Fokanov, Anna Csenge Fürjes, Lilla Horti, Zoltán Kelemen, Kinga Kriszta, Viktória Mester, Dániel Pataky, Orsolya Hajnalka Rőser, Orsolya Sáfár and Károly Szemerédy – performing popular excerpts by Bizet, Erkel, Gershwin, Mozart, Puccini, Strauss II and Verdi. The Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus (chorus director: Gábor Csiki) are conducted by general music director Balázs Kocsár, the renowned Ádám Medveczky, who has recently turned 80, and Sámuel Csaba Tóth.
