After more than 60 years, Daniel Auber’s 19th-century comic opera, the Fra Diavolo. From May 11, 2024, the Hungarian-language show at the Eiffel Workshop will be staged by the titular general director, hereditary member and master artist of the Hungarian State Opera. The main roles will be played by Gergely Boncsér, András Hábetler and László Szvétek, along with budding artists Benjámin Beeri, Diána Ivet Kiss, They are played by Mária Lili Somogyi, Gabriella Rea Fegyvesi and Artúr Szeleczki. The OPERA Orchestra is conducted by Kálmán Szennai.
“Charming, catchy music, great scenes, great roles, in one word: theater.” This is how he describes it in short Miklós Szinetár a Fra Diavolo comedy opera, in which the authors built a complicated comedy around the love story of a dragoon sent after a bandit leader and an innkeeper.
Fra Diavolo, meaning “brother of the devil”, was originally the nickname of a certain Michele Pezza, who during the Napoleonic wars led several insurgent groups in Naples with more or less success against the conquerors, until he was captured by the French in 1806 and executed as a roadblock. Many legends were born about the adventurous guerrilla leader, of which the most popular adaptation was Daniel Auber’s opera, which was presented in 1830 at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
Auber’s regular co-creator, Eugène Scribe, tamed the bloodthirsty insurgent into a romantic, Don Giovanni-like womanizing bandit who tries to rob the English couple traveling with him, Lord Kookburn and Lady Pamela, in the inn of Terracina, which is the scene of the action. Meanwhile, Lorenzo, the young dragoon sent to capture the highwayman, complains that Matteo, the innkeeper, does not want to add his daughter, Zerlina. The resulting comic opera became the most popular piece of Auber’s career: it was translated into many languages and remained in the repertoire of the French capital for almost 80 years with more than 900 performances.
The play, which is related to Rossini’s comedy operas, appeared in the Hungarian repertoire already in the second season of the Hungarian Theater in Pest, in 1838, and was performed almost 40 times in the later National Theater. It was first staged by the Hungarian Royal Opera House in 1909, but the real success was brought by the staging of the play by the 22-year-old opera director Miklós Szinetár, which first toured the country in 1954 as part of the Rolling Opera, and then in another staging from 1959. it was shown at the Erkel Theater until 1962.
The Kossuth and two-time Jászai award-winning director, in addition to the staging, also adapted the Hungarian translation of Pál Szentgyörgyi, while in the staging Mary Bell was of help. The scenery Zöldy Z Gergelathe costumes Monika Szeleithe video projections Zsombor of Czegléd his works. The main roles of the show Gergely Boncsér and Benjamin Beeri (Fra Diavolo), Hábetler Andrew (Kookburn), Little Diana Ivett and Mária Lili Somogyi (Pamela), Artúr Szeleczki (Lorenzo), László Szvétek (Matteo), as well as Gabriella Fenyves Rea (Zerlina) in the following roles András Kőrösi, János Szerekován, József Dániel Tóth-Fejel eh and László Havasi-Horváth they are visible. The Orchestra of the Hungarian State Opera House and the choir of vocal students of the Academy of Music Kálmán Senna he commands.
A Fra Diavolo after the premiere on May 11, 2024, it will be shown two more times in the season, on May 18 and 23.
