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The conductor Gergely Kesselyák, who is the festival's musical advisor, said the organisers wish to want to bring a more modern approach to genres that are less popular among young people, including opera and operetta.
The three premieres are a production of Imre Kálmán's Countess Maritza, a production of Cats by the Madách Theatre of Budapest and a performance of the Turkish dance company Anadolu Atesi.
Enikő Eszenyi will direct Countess Maritza, with the renowned Gyöngyi Lukács in the lead. The performance will serve as a tribute to the composer Imre Kálmán, who was born 125 years ago. The production will involve 60-70 dancers, an 80-member choir and the 80-member Szeged Symphony Orchestra. Performers will include the Kossuth Award winning actress Irén Psota, as well as Ervin Nagy, Géza Tordy and Csaba Pindroch. Eszenyi said she was looking forward to a month and half of intense rehearsals with the cast.
Budapest's Madách Theatre will take Cats to the banks of the River Tisza. The production, directed by Tamás Szirtes, will feature János Gálvölgyi, Andrea Malek and Szonja Oroszlán in the leading roles.
Kesselyák called Anadolu Atesi's contribution to the festival line-up a "fiery Turkish dance performance.'
Festival director Edina Bátyai said about half of the tickets for performances at the festival have been sold. Ticket revenue is expected to cover about half of the HUF 500-550 million cost of the festival. HUF 220 million in financing will be provided by the local council of Szeged. Bátyai noted that the festival draws many tourists to Szeged - more than 60pc are from out of town.
More than 90 percent of tickets for performances at last year's festival were sold, generating revenue of HUF 250 million. Six performances of Rudolph and three performances of The Csárdás Princess were sold out.
Rudolf will be repeated at this year's festival, as will a performance of Ferenc Erkel's famous opera Bánk Bán.
