The performance will feature the singers Renato Bruson and Eszter Sümegi, and it will be conducted by Ádám Medveczky. The director of the production will be Csaba Káel, whose past works include his film rendering of the opera Bánk Bán and a documentary of the singer Ilona Tokody. Káel has also directed 200-250 commercials and many music videos, among them ones for folk singer Márta Sebestyén and the pop star Ákos.
Italian baritone Renato Bruson, even past the age of 70, remains one of the world's leading interpreters of Verdi. In 2003, Hungarian audiences enjoyed him as Don Giovanni at the Miskolc International Opera Festival; two years later he enchanted them as William Tell.
Eszter Sümegi
In 1992 Eszter Sümegi won the Luciano Pavarotti International Singing Competition in Philadelphia, where she then launched her international career as Ines in Donizetti's La Favorita. Since 1993 she has been a member of the Hungarian State Opera's company and has also been a guest performer in Vienna, Toronto, Paris, Bregenz and Frankfurt.
South Korean tenor Alfred Kim has enjoyed great success at international singing competitions, including a prize at the Belvedere Competition in 1997 and another at the Placido Domingo Singing Competition in 2002. He has worked regularly in South Korea and has also sung roles in Germany, Italy, Canada and Sweden. Since 2005 he has been a member of the Wiesbaden State Theatre.
Tichina Vaughn is an American mezzo-soprano with a tremendous reputation for her perfect voice and versatile artistry. Since 1998 she has been a member of the Stuttgart State Theatre. One of her lead roles is Azucena, which she has performed in many countries to great acclaim. She has also worked around the world as a concert singer.
László Szvétek completed his studies at the Budapest Academy of Music, where his teacher was Sándor Sólyom-Nagy. Even before graduating, he joined the Hungarian State Opera, where he has been a soloist ever since.
Ádám Medveczky was runner up at the first International Conductor's Competition of Hungarian Television in 1974. He has since conducted at the Hungarian State Opera as well as in concert halls around the world.
Il Trovatore, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi in four acts with libretto by Salvatore Cammarano will be performed at 19:00 on Friday, April 27, 2007 in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall of the Palace of Arts.
Cast:
Count Luna: Renato Bruson Leonora: Eszter Sümegi Manrico: Alfred Kim Azucena: Tichina Vaughn Ferrando: Antal Cseh Hungarian Opera Orchestra and Choir of Cluj
