Dózsa György

Premiered at the National Theatre in 1867, Dózsa György was written to a libretto by Ede Szigligeti which was itself based on Mór Jókai's “sad historical drama in verse” of the same name. Erkel was altering the scenes as early as the second performance, and later on made additional changes together with his son. The opera, set in 1504, has not made it back into the repertoire since then, and was last shown in a concert performance at the Erkel Theatre in 2014. The interesting thing about the work is that it does not focus on Dózsa the semi-mythical leader of a peasant revolt, but rather on the story of a conflict over a love affair, implying that it was a personal quarrel that sparked the rebellion...

Hungarian-language discussion programme