The Miraculous Mandarin / Bluebeard's Castle

Béla Bartók / Marianna Venekei: The Miraculous Mandarin / Bluebeard's Castle
OperaDance drama 
The performance is not recommended for children under 14 years of age.
Running time 2 hours including one intermission
Language Hungarian
Surtitle Hungarian, English

Bartók Béla’s two highly influential stage works explore the dynamics of the relationship between man and woman and the deeper layers of their personalities, as presented by creators who, through a fusion of tradition and innovation, reveal the possibilities inherent in these works for 21st-century audiences. In Venekei Marianna’s choreography of The Miraculous Mandarin, premiered in 2024, the inner world of the characters is examined through the language of dance, set within an evoked big-city milieu. In the production of Bluebeard’s Castle staged in 2018, marking the 100th anniversary of its world premiere, director Kasper Holten reveals the symbolic doors of the male psyche by evoking the former painters' studio of the Opera House.

Marianna Venekei / Béla Bartók: The miracuolus Mandarin

Today we mostly find disturbing The Miraculous Mandarin, which is based on Menyhért Lengyel’s pantomime play full of erotica, sexuality and abuse. But at the time of its original premiere in Cologne, it was truly scandalous. Whether disturbing or scandalous, it is certainly an influential work, which travelled the world accordingly. It was played in numerous countries of Europe, America and Asia, and even in South Africa. Marianna Venekei's 2024 choreography explores the inner worlds of the characters and discovers the increasing depths of their personalities, combines past and present to find a way to reach a 21st-century audience while staying true to the music of Béla Bartók.

Conductor: Péter Halász

Featuring the Hungarian National Ballet and the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra.

Choreographer: Marianna Venekei
Set designer: Gergely Zöldy Z
Costume designer: Szelei Mónika
Video designer: Zsombor Czeglédi
Assistant choreographer: Ágnes Sárközy-Holler
Company répétiteur: István Kohári, Ágnes Sárközy-Holler, Marianna Venekei

Composer: Béla Bartók
Librettist: Menyhért Lengyel

Béla Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle

Béla Bartók’s one-act opera, Bluebeard’s Castle is an extraordinary and enigmatic work that, in terms of how it is interpreted and staged, poses an exciting challenge for directors, their creative teams and performers alike. Little wonder that it is such a popular work on opera schedules both in Hungary and abroad. This season, the OPERA returns to the production by internationally acclaimed Danish director Kasper Holten, who has worked on the stages of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Theater an der Wien, the Finnish National Opera, the Wiener Staatsoper, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Bregenz Festival, among others. He also served as artistic director of London’s Royal Opera House until 2017. Moreover, it was in Budapest where he shot his 2010 opera film of Don Giovanni, titled Juan. His productions are characterised by simplified, and often monumental, sets and a harmonic balance between tradition and innovative ideas. “To read, listen think and feel. The important thing is to avoid analysing it according to any preconception or always employing the same artistic style, but rather to develop a relationship with the work so I can completely understand what it is about it that fascinates me so much. Only then can I get started on the aesthetics, the concept and so forth,” says Holten.

Conductor: Péter Halász

Featuring the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra

Director: Kasper Holten
Set designer: Steffen Aarfing
Lighting designer: Ulrik Gad
Dramaturg: Judit Kenesey
English translation by: Péter Zollman

Composer: Béla Bartók
Librettist: Béla Balázs

Premiere: Feb. 3, 2024