Guest star of the Masquerade series on 26 September 2020 at 8 p.m. was baritone Mihály Kálmándy, Chamber Singer of the Hungarian State Opera. The evening was streamed live on the Facebook page of the Opera and on Origo.hu.
Mihály Kálmándy is the proud recipient of several prestigious awards (the Kossuth Prize among them). The renowned singer is not only a popular soloist in Hungary, but can boast of a significant international career. He has achieved outstanding success with audiences in the great baritone roles of Verdi including Nabucco, some of which he reprised in the Masquerade programme. One of his guests was Chamber Singer Zita Váradi, who performed pieces by Mozart, the surprise guest was a young soprano, Ildikó Megyimórecz. The evening was hosted by Dániel Mona, directed by Albert Mányik. Featured on the piano was Kálmán Szennai.
Programme:
Verdi: Nabucco – Nabucco's prayer from Act 4 (’Dio di Giuda!’)
Verdi: Don Carlo – Posa's aria from Act 3 (’Per me giunto è il dì supremo’)
Puccini: Manon Lescaut – Sola, perduta, abbandonata – featuring Ildikó Megyimórecz
Verdi: Macbeth – Macbeth's aria from Act 4 (’Pietà, rispetto, amore’)
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp major – featuring Kálmán Szennai
Gounod: Faust – Valentin's prayer from Act 2 (’Avant de quitter ces lieux’)
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro – Susanne's rose aria ('Deh, vieni, non tardar, o gioia bella') – featuring Zita Váradi
Puccini: Edgar – Frank's aria from Act 1 (’Questo amor, vergogna mia’)
Mozart: Don Giovanni – Zerlina és Don Giovanni kettőse az I. felvonásból (’Là ci darem la mano’) – közreműködik: Váradi Zita
The performance can be seen HERE.