For the first time, Szabolcs Brickner, Gabriella Létay Kiss, Constantin Trinks, and Gergely Madaras will take part in the Opera House’s festive programme. The series, running from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, will feature Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Wagner’s Parsifal, and Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana at the Ybl Palace on Andrássy Avenue.
St Matthew Passion is not only one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterpieces, but also a pinnacle of universal music history. This oratorio, which depicts the suffering of Christ based on the Gospel of Matthew, was brought back into public awareness a century later by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Accordingly, the OPERA presents the St Matthew Passion in Mendelssohn’s version, in a staged production by Géza M. Tóth accompanied by animated projections.
At the Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday performances (29 March and 2 April 2026), the solo roles will feature several debutants this year: Tibor Szappanos (Evangelist), Bence Pataki (bass), and Opera Studio member Anija Lombard (soprano). Their partners in the production include István Kovács (Jesus) and Atala Schöck (alto), who have been part of the production since its premiere, alongside tenor István Horváth, returning after several years. The Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Chorus, and Children’s Chorus will be conducted for the first time by Soma Dinyés, principal conductor of the Hungarian Radio Children’s Choir, who has led numerous baroque music performances with renowned ensembles in Hungary and abroad over the course of his decades-long career.
Wagner’s final music drama, Parsifal, is also closely connected to the Christian mystery surrounding Easter. Through his faith, Parsifal is able to save the suffering and join the guardians of the Holy Grail, the sacred chalice that received Christ’s blood. In the 2022 production by András Almási-Tóth, the OPERA Orchestra, Chorus, and Children’s Chorus will be conducted for the first time by Constantin Trinks, one of today’s most acclaimed Wagner conductors, who most recently led Parsifal at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. In the performances on Good Friday and Easter Sunday (3 and 5 April), the principal roles will be sung by István Kovácsházi (Parsifal), Mihály Kálmándy (Amfortas), Péter Fried (Titurel), András Palerdi (Gurnemanz), Károly Szemerédy (Klingsor), and Andrea Szántó (Kundry).
Set in a Sicilian village on Easter Sunday and culminating in a tragic tale of jealousy, Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana is one of the key works of verismo opera. In the concert performances, OPERA chamber singers Szabolcs Brickner and Gabriella Létay Kiss will debut in the roles of Turiddu and Santuzza, while fellow chamber singer Csaba Szegedi appears as Alfio. Lucia will be performed for the first time by Anna Csenge Fürjes, and Lola will once again be portrayed by Melinda Heiter.
Cavalleria rusticana is preceded by Mascagni’s Messa di Gloria, composed around the same time and musically connected to the verismo opera. In this uplifting work for choir and orchestra, Szabolcs Brickner and Csaba Szegedi will make their debut as tenor and baritone soloists. In both productions, the ensembles of the OPERA will be conducted by Gergely Madaras, the internationally renowned conductor who received the Bartók Radio Music Award for Conductor of the Year last year and is also appearing in the Opera House’s Easter programme for the first time.
Photo by Valter Berecz
