Directed by Vajk Szente, Péter Balczó, Orsolya Sáfár and Péter Kálmán star in the staged world premiere of the opera-musical The Master and Margarita by Levente Gyöngyösi. The spectacular Hungarian State Opera production conducted by Gábor Hollerung featuring sets and costumes by Kentaur can only be seen online once this season, on 13 February 2021 at 8:00 p.m. CET in the Opera Stream series on jegy.hu.
Satan appears in Moscow in the company of a resolute talking cat and other strange characters. Some people disappear under strange circumstances, witches fly through the air, and we are transported back to Biblical times from one minute to the next. The surreal story of Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita comes to life in a special musical format in Levente Gyöngyösi’s opera-musical with libretto by Szabolcs Várady based on the script by Róbert Bognár and András Schlanger. “I had wanted to write a piece where the stylistic elements of contemporary and pop music synthesise for quite a while now. Something that is easy to understand, well laid out, and modern: an experiment to do away with boundaries.” The staged world premiere will be performed in a special format reminiscent of musicals, under the direction of Vajk Szente, who is at home both as an actor in musical theatre and as a director. His creative team includes set and costume designer Kentaur, choreographer Lajos Péter Túri and acrobatic choreographer Tünde Vincze.
The major roles are performed by Péter Kálmán (Woland), Péter Balczó (The Master / Yeshua), Orsolya Sáfár (Margarita), István Kovács (Professor Stravinsky / Pontius Pilate) and András Hábetler (Berlioz / Caiaphas). The cast also includes Donát Varga, Tivadar Kiss, Ildikó Szakács, Zoltán Gavodi, Alexandra Likovics, Jenő Dékán, András Kőrősi, András Kiss, Bence Gulyás, Éva Várhelyi, Balázs Csémy, Róbert Erdős, Boldizsár Zajkás, András Farkas, Balázs Papp, Gabriella Rea Fenyvesi and Alexandra Ruszó, featuring dancers of the Hungarian National Ballet, artists of Hungarian Aerial Gymnastics Association. The Hungarian State Opera Orchestra and Chorus (chorus master: Gábor Csiki) are conducted by Gábor Hollerung.
