Liszt: Szent Erzsébet legendája A Budapesti Tavaszi Fesztivál nyitókoncertje / BTF 2018

St. Elizabeth: Brigitta Kele

Landgravin Sophie: Judit Kutasi

Landgrave Hermann / Friedrich II: Albert Pesendorfer

Landgrave Ludwig: Johannes Kammler

Hungarian magnate / Steward: Zsolt Haja

Young Elizabeth: Kinga Csorba

Young Ludwig: Kornél Kristofics 

Featuring: Hungarian National Philharmonic, Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos), Zoltán Kodály Hungarian Choir School Children’s Choir (choirmaster: Borbála Sapszon, Ferenc Sapszon)

Conductor: Zsolt Hamar

From the autumn of 1861, Liszt spent more and more time in Rome, where his interest turned towards church music. In 1862 he completed his first oratorio, The Legend of St. Elizabeth. Liszt already took a strong interest in the life of the Hungarian princess and Bavarian duchess during his Weimar years, and even visited her former home, the castle of Wartburg, in the company of the Grand Duke of Weimar.

The Hungarian National Philharmonic will be conducted by their music director, Zsolt Hamar. The title role of the oratorio will be sung by Brigitta Kele, who made her debut at Cluj-Napoca’s Romanian National Opera, regularly performs in Düsseldorf, Paris, Avignon, and Strasbourg, and was featured in the last season in the New York Metropolitan’s production of La bohème.

Albert Pesendorfer is one of today’s most sought-after Wagner singers, who regularly performs King Marke, Hans Sachs, Hagen and Gurnemanz. Louis will be sung by Johannes Kammler. The young German baritone won the second prize at the 2017 Neue Stimmen, an international competition, which earned him a number of performance opportunities. One of these is a concert performance of Gottfried von Einem’s opera, The Trial, a highly anticipated production of the Salzburg Festival this summer.