Hungarian State Opera U.S. Debut To Include Appearances By Longtime Supporters Eva Marton And Plácido Domingo

As the Hungarian State Opera makes its U.S. debut, the company is joined by two of its greatest supporters, Éva Marton and Plácido Domingo, who make special guest appearances to celebrate these milestone performances (October 30 - November 11). Ms. Marton gives a speech in honor of the HSO at the State Opera and National Ballet Gala, which takes place at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater on Sunday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m. The following evening-Monday, November 5 at 8:00 p.m.-Mr. Domingo conducts the HSO Orchestra as it makes its Carnegie Hall debut. He also makes his own Carnegie Hall conducting debut with this performance.

Legendary Hungarian soprano Éva Marton's relationship with the Hungarian State Opera dates to the beginning of her career, following her studies at Budapest's Franz Liszt Academy of Music. The first major role of her career was the Queen of Shemakha in an HSO production of Rimsky-Korsakov's Le coq d'or. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1976 and has gone on to have a remarkable international career.

Tenor and conductor Plácido Domingo first sang in Budapest with the HSO in the 1970s, appearing in Tosca at the Erkel Theatre. Notable performances with the company since then include singing in Aida in the 1980s, conducting the HSO in 2009, and singing in a 2016 gala performance. He has long been a close friend and supporter of the company and has fond memories of his performances with leading Hungarian singers, including Ms. Marton, Ilona Tokody, Erika Miklósa, Andrea Rost, who sings at the HSO Orchestra's Carnegie Hall debut, and Ildikó Komlósi, who sings the role of Judit in the HSO's November 1 production of Béla Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle.

Most of the 365 participants in the HSO's U.S. debut have now arrived in New York, including 21 opera singers, 25 ballet soloists, a 72-member chorus, a 56-member ballet company, and an 87-member orchestra. At Koch Theater, the first week of performances features opera; the second week features ballet productions presented by the Hungarian National Ballet; and in between is the State Opera and National Ballet Gala. For more information, click here.

New Yorkers can also experience the HSO outside of the Koch Theater auditorium. Starting tonight, prior to each opera production, 'flash mob'-like performances and recitals can be seen at the theater's entrance and on its promenade. The company also presents a lecture on Bluebeard's Castle (October 31), young performers from the Hungarian classical-music reality competition Virtuosos (November 8), Hungarian jazz by the Pankovits Sextet (November 10), and ZoltánKodály's oratorio Psalmus Hungaricus (November 11).

The Hungarian State Opera was founded in 1884 by the Government of the Kingdom of Hungary, and its first directors were Ferenc Erkel, a Hungarian conductor, composer, and key figure in Hungarian opera culture, and Frigyes Campilli, a dancer, choreographer and ballet master of Italian-German origin, who founded the first ballet troupe in Hungary. With two theaters?the opulent neo-Renaissance-style Opera House and the more modern Erkel Theatre?the company can accommodate an audience of more than 3,200 people on a single night. Repertoire includes well- and lesser-known Hungarian and international operas and ballets, as well as contemporary and commissioned works. Each year, the company presents more than 200 performances of 60-70 operas, more than 100 ballet performances, as well as musicals, and orchestra concerts, making it one of the busiest opera houses in the world. The Hungarian State Opera contracts a roster of 150 singers, and has three ensembles: a 200-member symphony orchestra; the first and largest professional chorus in Hungary, which also has 200 members including the children's chorus; and the only classical ballet company in Hungary with its 130 members. For more information, visit opera.hu.