The origins of Hungarian opera can be traced to the late 18th century, with the rise of imported opera and other concert styles in cities like Pozsony (now

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

), Kismarton, Nagyszeben and

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. Operas at the time were in either the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

or Italian style. The field Hungarian opera began with school dramas and interpolations of German operas, which began at the end of the 18th century. School dramas in places like the Pauline School in

Sátoraljaújhely Sátoraljaújhely (German language, German: ''Neustadt am Zeltberg''; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Nové Mesto pod Šiatrom;'' Yiddish: ''איהעל'') is a border town located in Borsod–Abaúj–Zemplén County, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, Hu ...

, the Calvinist School in Csurgó and the Piarist School in Beszterce . Pozsony produced the first music drama experiments in the country, though the work of Gáspár Pacha and József Chudy; it was the latter's 1793 ''Prince Pikkó and Jutka Perzsi'' that is generally considered the first Hungarian opera. The text of that piece was translated from ''Prinz Schnudi und Prinzessin Evakathel'' by Philipp Hafner. This style was still strongly informed by the Viennese ''Zauberposse'' style of comedic play, and remained thus throughout the 19th century. Though these operas used foreign styles, the "idyllic, lyric and heroic" parts of the story were always based on verbunkos, which was becoming a symbol of the Hungarian nation during this time . It was not until the middle of the 19th century that

Ferenc Erkel Ferenc Erkel ( , ; November 7, 1810June 15, 1893) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and pianist. He was the father of Hungarian grand opera, written mainly on historical themes, which are still often performed in Hungary. He also composed t ...

wrote the first Hungarian language opera, using French and Italian models, thus launching the field of Hungarian opera .

Notable Hungarian opera singers

Notable Hungarian classical musicians

Notable Hungarian composers

References

See also