The first term of the Hungarian State Opera's two-year professional training programme has began with the participation of four young Hungarian and one Austrian singer.
Recalling numerous international examples and the traditions of the Hungarian State Opera, the opera studio has been launched. It aims to provide professional training for young opera singers after their university studies, as well as the opportunity to expand their stage experience at the beginning of their career. As a result of a two-round audition held at the Hungarian State Opera in June 2024, five young singers, baritone Norbert Balázs, soprano Gabriella Rea Fenyvesi, soprano Anija Lombard, mezzo-soprano Vivienne Ortan, and tenor Botond Pál can begin their studies in the first year of the opera studio.
In the first term of the four-term training, Éva Marton, main patron of the opera studio and other acclaimed singers will train the young artists in master classes and individual sessions involving learning specific roles. In addition, role practice, stage practice, movement, history of opera and interpretation, as well as language coaching are included in the timetable. The director of the Éva Marton International Opera Studio is András Almási-Tóth, artistic director of the OPERA, habilitated associate professor of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. The form teacher of the singers is director and principal artistic assistant Mária Harangi, role practice is instructed by conductor and répétiteur Kálmán Szennai, general director Dr. Szilveszter Ókovács is in charge of opera and interpretation history. The primary location of the training is the Eiffel Art Studios of the Hungarian State Opera, and the professional partner is the Academy of Music.
Beside the courses, each semester will also include a master class in the curriculum, this autumn Péter Halász, principal guest conductor of the Hungarian State Opera, will give a series of lectures on Mozart's works. In addition, the young singers can also participate in the life of the OPERA: they will be given the chance to appear in performances, cover selected roles, and stand in when necessary. At the end of the academic year, their exam performance, Haydn's Armida will be presented in a joint production with the singers of Opera Neo in San Diego in Budapest and the United States.
Éva Marton announced it in January 2024, on the occasion of the Hungarian Culture Day that she would start an opera studio under her patronage at the Hungarian State Opera from September this year. The OPERA had previously operated a scholarship program and an opera studio with similar goals, but due to lack of adequate infrastructure and financial background, these initiatives had died by the end of the 2000s.
