Erzsébet Second Act

Ferenc Erkel
Erzsébet Second Act

Concert performance in Hungarian, with Hungarian and English surtitles

Introductory presentation, concert and audio recording

This work by Ferenc Erkel has a special fate, since it is centred around the great Saint Elisabeth of the House of Árpád, though its creation was facilitated by the visit of the emperor couple and the slow dissolving of the system named after the Austrian Minister of the Interior Alexander Bach. As a result, the lyrical work can also be interpreted as being in honour of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria (affectionately referred to as Sissi), who had a great affection for Hungarians. The structure of the piece is also interesting: Erkel wrote only the second act, the first and third were composed by the Doppler brothers. Though the piece has never been recorded before, music experts believe Erzsébet is the best Erkel piece, on the same level as, if not better than, Bánk Bán (The Viceroy Bánk).

General Cast:

Conductor: Kocsár Balázs

Elisabeth: Kolonits Klára

Louis: László Boldizsár

Kuno: Haja Zsolt

Gunda: Balga Gabriella

Andrew: Cser Krisztián

Roderich: Káldi Kiss András 

Credits

Composer: Erkel Ferenc

Librettist: Czanyuga József

Director: Varga Bence

English surtitles: Arthur Roger Crane