The star of the 18 October 2020 Masquerade was a singer who had already appeared as a guest in the series. It was his turn now to make a selection of his favourite and iconic roles. István Kovácsházi's aria recital was streamed live from the Eiffel Art Studios at 8:00 p.m. on Facebook and Origo.hu.
The Ferenc Liszt Award recipient tenor, István Kovácsházi, Chamber Singer of the Hungarian State Opera for the 2015/16 season has been a soloist at the Opera for more than two decades. When he first made his debut, he already sang roles like Alfredo Germont from La traviata. His repertoire includes several other roles by Verdi as well as Mozart, Puccini, Erkel and Kodály. He has performed Wagnerian roles since 2006. In his programme, he evoked tragic figures from major Italian, French and Hungarian operas, as well as dedicated an entire section for the roles by Wagner that earned him nationwide and international acclaim. His guests included Chamber Singer Erika Gál and Réka Piroska Jónás as the surprise guest. The recital directed by Erika Tóth was hosted by Szilveszter Ókovács, featured on the piano was Katalin Doman.
Programme:
Puccini: Tosca – "E lucevan le stelle"
Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila – Dalila's aria from Act 2 ("Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix") – performed by Erika Gál
Bizet: Carmen – Flower Song ("La fleur que tu m'avais jetée")
Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann – Olympia's aria from Act 1 ("Les oiseaux dans la charmille") – performed by Réka Piroska Jónás
Erkel: Bánk Bán (The Viceroy Bánk) – Bánk and Gertrudis's duet from Act 2 ("Bánk bán! Te itt?") – featuring Erika Gál
Wagner: Die Walküre – Wonnegesang ("Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond")
Wagner: Lohengrin – Gralserzählung ("In fernem Land")
Wagner: Parsifal – Finale ("Nur eine Waffe taugt")
The performance can be seen HERE.
Photo by Edina Ligeti