On All Saints' Day, 1 November 2020, bass László Szvétek, Chamber Singer for the 2017/18 season maked a selection of his favourite arias on the Sándor Hevesi Stage of the Eiffel Art Studios. His recital could be viewed live from 8:00 p.m. on Facebook and Origo.hu.
László Szvétek first studied at ELTE, then went on to the Music Academy to master the craft of singing under such renowned tutors as Sándor Sólyom-Nagy. Since his graduation, for more than a quarter of a century, he has been a stalwart of the Hungarian State Opera, where he has played all the important bass roles of the Italian, German and Russian operas from Mozart to contemporary composers. His Hungarian repertoire is also extensive including works by Erkel, Kodály, Dohnányi, Szokolay and Ránki. His achievements were awarded by the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary in 2013, and he was named Chamber Singer for the 2017/18 season of the Opera. In his aria recital he sang pieces by Mozart, Verdi and Puccini, and in an excerpt by Donizetti he also showed his comic side. One of his guests was baritone Alexandru Agache, and together they performed the darkest duet from Rigoletto. The surprise guest was Gabriella Rea Fenyvesi, a young soprano who prepared a bel canto romance for the viewers. The performance directed by András Aczél was hosted by Dániel Mona, featuring on the piano was Pálma Hidegkuti.
Programme:
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte – Sarastro's aria in F major
Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail – Osmin's aria from Act 3
Verdi: Simone Boccanegra – Fiesco's aria from Prologue
Giordano: Andrea Chénier – Gérard's monologue – performed by Alexandru Agache
Puccini: La bohème – Colline's aria from Act 4
Verdi: Rigoletto – Rigoletto and Sparafucile's duet from Act 1 – featuring Alexandru Agache
Bellini: I Capuleti e I Montecchi – Giulietta's romance – performed by Gabriella Rea Fenyvesi
Donizetti: Il campanello – Don Annibale's aria from Act 1
The performance can be seen HERE.
Photo by Valter Berecz