Carmina Burana Tickets

Hungarian State Opera House, Budapest, Hungary

Scene 3 from the cantata "Carmina Burana"

Scene 1 from the cantata "Carmina Burana"

Scene 2 from the cantata "Carmina Burana"

Scene 4 from the cantata "Carmina Burana"

All photos (4)

1 / 4

Available Dates: 1 Mar - 4 May, 2025 (14 events)

Important Info

Type: Opera

City: Budapest, Hungary

Duration: 1h 30min

Sung in: Latin

Titles in: Hungarian,English

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast

Performers

Choose the date to see the peformers

Creators

Composer: Carl Orff

Director: Tibor Bogányi

Overview

The creators conceived a breathtaking spectacle to surround the three soloists, the three dancers from the Hungarian National Ballet and the monumental 120-strong chorus, with the 3D “magical images” coming to life on six projection displays and LED walls.

O Fortuna. Everyone knows the overwhelmingly powerful opening motifs of Carl Orff's most famous work. What fewer people know is that Carmina Burana was not intended to be an oratorical work, but was instead expressly meant for the stage. This becomes clear from the piece's (originally Latin) subtitle: “Secular songs for singers and chorus to be sung together with instruments and magical images.”
Over the course of the many times he has conducted the work, Tibor Bogányi gradually developed a vision for a staged version.

Before the show, the Bordó Sárkány Old Music Order will perform to get the audience tuned in and keyed up for medieval melodies.

Occasionally useing light effects that may be disturbing or excessively bright for some members of the audience.

Please note: occasionally using light effects that may be disturbing or excessively bright for some members of the audience.

History

Premiere of this production: 08 June 1937, Oper Frankfurt

Carmina Burana is a cantata composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff, based on 24 poems from the medieval collection Carmina Burana.

Synopsis

Magical images in 3D

For 15 years, painter and organist Ágnes Zászkaliczky and conductor and cellist Tibor Bogányi have been working together on finding ways to attract a wider range of audience segments to classical concerts by enhancing their productions with singular visual experiences: Zászkaliczky selects projected material from paintings created expressly for the given musical piece. Their largest-scale effort to date is the super-production Carmina Burana, which they put together with the world-renowned Budapest-based Freelusion Studio.

“We worked out the basic concept of Carmina Burana together with librettist Attila Könnyű. Not long after the idea was conceived, we found the Freelusion team, whose unique technical and artistic expertise allowed us to raise the concept of “visual concerts” to a new level. Through this collaboration, we developed real-time three-dimensional visual material that is in perfect harmony with the music. The essence of the concept is the fact that it is not the visuals that dictate the tempo, but rather the music: it is not the conductor’s task to “accompany” an existing film or animation, like at so many concerts of film music, for example. Instead, the music takes centre stage, and everything else adapts to it. We therefore had to create a form of animation that would be suitable for following the music live during the concert.

In the music, Orff followed and expressed the messages of the songs with extraordinary sensitivity. Starting from Orff’s own concept, we have selected “magical images” that reinforce the effect of the music without suppressing it, and which make the text more profound without illustrating it. The dynamic of the moods of the projection is organised along the lines of the major movements. We’ve built upon ancient symbols that can be found both in Hungarian and universal motif systems. Tímea Papp, Freelusion’s superb choreographer, we decided which movements would also incorporate dance to be performed by the outstanding dancers from the Hungarian National Ballet. We hope this will transport the audience to a magical virtual reality through Orff’s elemental music and the unique visual experience.”

Tibor Bogányi and Ágnes Zászkaliczky

Venue Info

Hungarian State Opera House - Budapest
Andrássy út 22

The Hungarian State Opera House (Hungarian: Magyar Állami Operaház) is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. The Hungarian State Opera House is the main opera house of the country and the second largest opera house in Budapest and in Hungary. Today, the opera house is home to the Budapest Opera Ball, a society event dating back to 1886. The Theatre was designed by Miklós Ybl, a major figure of 19th-century Hungarian architecture.

Construction began in 1875, funded by the city of Budapest and by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary, and the new house opened to the public on the 27 September 1884. Before the closure of the "Népszínház" in Budapest, it was the third largest opera building in the city; today it is the second largest opera house in Budapest and in Hungary.

Touring groups had performed operas in the city from the early 19th century, but as Legány notes, "a new epoch began after 1835 when part of the Kasa National Opera and Theatrical Troupe arrived in Buda". They took over the Castle Theatre and, in 1835, were joined by another part of the troupe, after which performances of operas were given under conductor Ferenc Erkel. By 1837 they had established themselves at the Magyar Színház (Hungarian Theatre) and by 1840, it had become the "Nemzeti Színház" (National Theatre). Upon its completion, the opera section moved into the Hungarian Royal Opera House, with performances quickly gaining a reputation for excellence in a repertory of about 45 to 50 operas and about 130 annual performances.

Many important artists were guests here including the composer Gustav Mahler, who was director in Budapest from 1888 to 1891 and Otto Klemperer, who was music director for three years from 1947 to 1950.

It is a richly decorated building and is considered one of the architect's masterpieces. It was built in neo-Renaissance style, with elements of Baroque. Ornamentation includes paintings and sculptures by leading figures of Hungarian art including Bertalan Székely, Mór Than, and Károly Lotz. Although in size and capacity it is not among the greatest, in beauty and the quality of acoustics the Budapest Opera House is considered to be amongst the finest opera houses in the world.

The auditorium holds 1,261 people. It is horseshoe-shaped and – according to measurements done in the 1970s by a group of international engineers – has the third best acoustics in Europe after La Scala in Milan and the Palais Garnier in Paris. Although many opera houses have been built since the Budapest Opera House is still among the best in terms of acoustics.

In front of the building are statues of Ferenc Erkel and Franz Liszt. Liszt is the best-known Hungarian composer. Erkel composed the Hungarian national anthem, and was the first music director of the Opera House; he was also the founder of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra.

Each year the season lasts from September to the end of June and, in addition to opera performances, the House is home to the Hungarian National Ballet.

There are guided tours of the building in six languages (English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Hungarian) almost every day.