András Békés
stage director, principal stage director, Master Artist and Eternal Member of the Hungarian State Opera
(1927-2015)
The doyen of the Hungarian directors was born in Debrecen in 1927. After graduating from the Academy of Drama in 1949 he signed a contract with the National Theatre. Between 1951 and 1955 he worked as a principal director of the Katona József Theatre, Kecskemét, from 1955 to 1960 he was a member of the Ifjúsági and József Attila Theatres and the Szeged National Theatre. He has been a lecturer at the Academy of Drama since 1958. He became a director in the Opera House in 1960, worked as a principal director from 1987 to 1990, and is presently an titular principal director. He has staged 47 pieces of various styles in the Opera House since 1962, including operattas (Millöcker: Der Bettelstudent) and singspiele (Kodály: Háry János) and Italian (Verdi: Nabucco), German (Beethonven: Fidelio), Russian (Tchaikovsky: The Queen of Spades), Hungarian (Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle), Czech (Janáček: Jenůfa) and English (Purcell: Dido and Aeneas) operas as well as a re-discovery of a Baroque piece (Händel: Rosalinda) and the première of a contemporary opera (Vajda: Mario and the Magician). Professor emeritus András Békés is a Master Artist of the Hungarian State Opera House.
The doyen of the Hungarian directors was born in Debrecen in 1927. After graduating from the Academy of Drama in 1949 he signed a contract with the National Theatre. Between 1951 and 1955 he worked as a principal director of the Katona József Theatre, Kecskemét, from 1955 to 1960 he was a member of the Ifjúsági and József Attila Theatres and the Szeged National Theatre. He has been a lecturer at the Academy of Drama since 1958. He became a director in the Opera House in 1960, worked as a principal director from 1987 to 1990, and is presently an titular principal director. He has staged 47 pieces of various styles in the Opera House since 1962, including operattas (Millöcker: Der Bettelstudent) and singspiele (Kodály: Háry János) and Italian (Verdi: Nabucco), German (Beethonven: Fidelio), Russian (Tchaikovsky: The Queen of Spades), Hungarian (Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle), Czech (Janáček: Jenůfa) and English (Purcell: Dido and Aeneas) operas as well as a re-discovery of a Baroque piece (Händel: Rosalinda) and the première of a contemporary opera (Vajda: Mario and the Magician). Professor emeritus András Békés is a Master Artist of the Hungarian State Opera House.