Death in Venice

In September 2018, the Hungarian State Opera made a guest appearance in Zagreb, and the performances there of Ferenc Erkel’s opera Hunyadi László and Ronald Hynd’s ballet The Merry Widow were two of the high points of the institution’s Carpathian Homeland Opera Tour. More than a year later, the time has come to invite our former hosts here to Budapest.

The Croatian National Theatre’s company will likewise spend two nights at the Erkel Theatre. The Croatian National Ballet, which last year celebrated the 140th anniversary of its founding, is the country’s oldest and largest ballet company. Led by Leonard Jakovina, their diverse repertoire ranges from classical and neoclassical choreographies to contemporary ballets. For this appearance, they are bringing their production Death in Venice to Budapest

 

“Art is an enhancement of life. It makes you more deeply happy, it wears you out faster. It engraves on the face of its servant the traces of imaginary, intellectual adventures, and with time, even when his external existence is one of cloister-like calm, it makes him spoiled and fastidious, producing a weariness and nervous curiosity that could hardly be generated by a lifetime full of extravagant passions and pleasures,” reads one passage in Thomas Mann’s novel of the same title. It was this essence of art transcending life that captivated choreographer Valentina Turcu, a former dancer who now often works as a director and at developing librettos and musical concepts for stages in different countries. This choreography set to the music of Mahler – which is practically intertwined with the novel – presents Mann’s still-relevant thoughts as transplanted into the modern world.

CREDITS
Choreography, direction,
dramaturgy and music concept: Valentina Turcu
Set designer: Marko Japelj
Costume designer: Alan Hranitelj
Lighting designer: Aleksandar Čavlek
Video projections: Matjaž Mrak
Assistant choreographer: Anton Bogov
Assistant costume designer: Petra Pavičić
Ballet mistresses: Mihaela Devald, Milka Hribar Bartolović
Head of music staff: Ljudmila Šumarova
Stage manager: Snježana Marasović

CAST:

Gustav von Aschenbach: Takuya Sumitomo
Angel of Death: Guilherme Gameiro Alves
Tadzio: Andrea Schifano
Aschenbach's wife: Edina Pličanić
Lovers: Rieka Suzuki, Kornel Palinko
Bella: Natalia Kosovac
Tadzio's mother: Milka Hribar Bartolović
Tadzio's sisters: Asuka Maruo, Mutsumi Matsuhisa, Saya Ikegami
Hotel manager: Drew Jackson
Hotel guests: George Stanciu, Simon Yoshida, Miruna Miciu, Matheo Bourreau, Cristiana Rotolo, Adam Harris, Atina Tanović, Bálint Rauscher

Premier: 5 June 2018