Benjamin Britten's interactive children's opera The Little Sweep will be performed by László Szvétek, Andrea Meláth, Eszter Zemlényi, and members of the OPERA Children's Chorus starting from 26 April 2024, at the Eiffel Art Studios of the Hungarian State Opera. Part of the MVM Piccolo Programme, the production is recommended for school-aged children. Conducted by Nikolett Hajzer, the production is staged by Attila Toronykőy based on the concept by János Novák.
What happens when an opera is not only about children but also written and performed by them – while involving the audience as well? This is precisely the case with The Little Sweep by the outstanding 20th-century English composer Benjamin Britten: a unique children's opera that offers a truly communal theatrical experience. According to the story, a group of children, inspired by an old newspaper article, write an opera about Sam, a little boy sold by his father to a cruel chimney sweep master. One morning, Sam gets stuck in a chimney, and the children living in the house band together to rescue him – but they will also need help from the audience.
The Little Sweep, while playfully evoking the centuries-old theme of rescue operas, also draws attention to the vulnerability of childhood. In the performance, it is through courage, cleverness, and cooperation that the empathetic – and singing – children triumph. Recommended for school-aged children, the production’s directorial concept is by János Novák, who exaggerates and caricatures the differences between children and adults with giant puppets. The visually rich design, evoking both the present day and the 19th century, was created by Ágota Matyi. The opera is staged by Attila Toronykőy, who is known for many successful fairy tale productions at the OPERA and has worked with the children's chorus in The Magic Flute for Children as well as Hungarian Christmas, which also premiered this season.
Fitting into the OPERA’s 2025/26 Anglophone Season, the child roles are performed by Dániel Tanka (Sam) and Anna Zsófia Forrai (Juliet), who have been members of the children's chorus for three and six years respectively and have shown soloist potential from the beginning. Also performing as soloists from the children’s choir are Dániel Borsos, Hanna Czepek, Luca Gábor, Vince Göblyös, and Natália Tanka. The adult soloist part will be sung by Rafael Ababe-Ayele, with the adult roles played by László Szvétek, Andrea Meláth, and Eszter Zemlényi. The performance, featuring 11 soloists, 18 chorus members, a string quartet, a piano for four hands, and percussion, is conducted by Nikolett Hajzer, head of the OPERA Children’s Chorus.
Following its premiere on 26 April 2025, at 11 a.m., The Little Sweep will be performed again this season at the OPERA’s Eiffel Art Studios on 27 April, 4 & 18 May. With this production, the Hungarian State Opera continues to expand the family- and child-focused programmes at its newest venue.
The world premiere of The Little Sweep took place in 1949 at the Aldeburgh Festival in England, which Benjamin Britten and librettist Eric Crozier founded together a year earlier in the composer’s seaside hometown. Originally staged under the title Let’s Make an Opera!, Britten envisioned it as a work for amateur performers that could be staged in a school setting, aiming to popularize the opera genre. In Hungary, the opera was first performed in 1956 under the title Children, Let’s Make an Opera! in the Bartók Hall in Budapest (now the Pesti Theatre), organized by the renowned music educator László Lukin. Since then, it has seen numerous semi-professional and professional productions across the country. The Hungarian State Opera first premiered the piece in 2009 in a production directed by Rita Bata and conducted by László Bartal and Géza Köteles. Now, after 14 years, the opera returns to the repertoire, further enriching the children’s chorus's independent productions designed for their own age group – a new testament to the young performers’ talent and versatility.
