Ed Is On - Tasnádi Bence estje

The tenor, recently awarded the title of Austrian Kammersänger, began his career on operetta stages. After performing in operas by Mozart, Beethoven, and Weber, he has since grown into one of the most significant Wagnerian Heldentenors of our time.

As it is a latent Kodály season, it seems only fitting that the concert at the OPERA honouring the events of 1956 should feature works by the composer. In that same year, the short-lived Revolutionary Council of Hungarian Intellectuals elected him as its president. Throughout his entire oeuvre, Kodály consistently reinforced Hungarian national identity. The programme gains both colour and a ceremonial character from the hymn-like and dance-infused compositions of his middle and later years.

Henry Purcell’s epic masterpiece, Dido and Aeneas has to do with the Trojan War. But what is even more important than the historical background of this hour-long little gem is love – as Dóra Barta, the director of the production highlights it, “Humanity has long known that if there is something you can die of, Love is certainly such a thing.