Byzantium

Sándor Hevesi proclaimed Ferenc Herczeg's drama Byzantium the greatest Hungarian drama of all time. With the approach of a visionary, the writer depicts the jumble of problems that have led to the great dilemmas of our European existence: the compromising of moral values, faith and commitment, social divisions and gains made by value systems that conflict with Christian ideals. Reading Byzantium, one immediately senses that it was created for the opera stage. Hungarian opera history evolved primarily evolved in the genre of historical opera. In his work, György Selmeczi attempts to redefine the topoi of this genre. It is built around great ideas and great emotions in order to convey the motifs of faith, commitment and sacrifice with the gravity they deserve. In its musical language, it makes conscious use of compositional devices rooted in the tradition of opera history and in the musical world that surrounds us.

Hungarian-language discussion programme