András Kürthy is a Hungarian opera stage director.

András Kürthy
András Kürthy in the Craiova Opera
Born
NationalityHungarian
OccupationOpera stage director

Education

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Kürthy graduated from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He wrote his M. A. thesis on the history of the Ricordi publishing house and its role in the history of Italian music in the 19th century. He went on studying music, musicology and theatrical art in Budapest, Rome and Milan. He did research on Verdi's operatic oeuvre. In 1987/88 he won his second scholarship as stage director to study in Italy at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, which had a decisive impact on his career. He worked with stage directors Michael Bogdanov, Michael Hampe, Roberto De Simone and Luca Ronconi and with composer Karlheinz Stockhausen on productions of Teatro alla Scala and Teatro Romolo Valli (Reggio Emilia).

Career

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From 1985 to 1992 he was member of the Hungarian State Opera House, Budapest, first as assistant stage director, later as chief dramaturg, then secretary general and finally as programme director.

Between 1991 and 2001 he worked as a permanent guest director at the Cluj-Napoca Hungarian Opera (Romania). There he realised a most successful series of stagings: Simon Boccanegra, Macbeth and Nabucco by Verdi, the world premiere of a Hungarian rock opera as well as several gala evenings and guest performances. For his activities there he was awarded the Ruzitska József Prize in 2001.

From 1991 till 2003 he worked with the Rudas Theatrical Organization on Luciano Pavarotti's large concerts and on The Three Tenors (Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras) productions. As stage director, he took part in a Turandot production in Beijing and held master classes in China several times.

In 1995 he started his own production (Opera Viva) in Budapest, which launched summer festivals and set up an opera studio for young artists to acquire and practice stage skills.

In 2011 he started a bi-weekly radio series on opera titled Stage Director's Score on Hungarian Catholic Radio.

In 2012 he held an opera workshop at the Hungarian Opera House of Cluj (Romania)[1] and made a new production of L'elisir d'amore by Donizetti.[2][3]

In 2013 he directed Aida by Verdi in two occasions: the first in April, in Iasi, Romania,[4][5][6][7] and the second one in July, in Szombathely, Hungary.[8]

In 2014 he directed Opera Romana Craiova's production of The Gypsy Princess (Silvia) by Emmerich Kálmán.[9][10][11][12][13][14]

The following year, he returned successfully to Craiova with a new version of L'elisir d'amore[15][16][17][18]

In 2016, he returned to Cluj, this time, to the Romanian National Opera, directing the national premiere of I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini. He returned to Bellini's work in the city of Târgu Mureş, where he directed La sonnambula[19] in 2018, a year after his first production in the city, when he directed La traviata[20][21] by Giuseppe Verdi.

In 2018, he directed a gala concert ("Do You Remember?") in honour of soprano Melinda Marton in Cluj,[22] his second work honouring a local singer, after the first one in 2001 ("Vissi d'arte"), honouring soprano Júlia Kirkósa.

Operatic productions

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Awards

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Ruzitska József Prize (2001): for his activities at the Cluj-Napoca Hungarian Opera.

Value of the Opera Prize (2013): for his production of Aida at the Romanian National Opera of Iasi.

Other activities

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András Kürthy has worked on the juries of some of the most acclaimed singing competitions all over the world. He is member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts of Salzburg.[32] He is also active in the field of photographic art. He has had several photo exhibitions and published an album. He took part in the jury of numerous singing competitions, which include:

  • "Francisco Vinas", Barcelona
  • "Bel canto", Antwerpen
  • "Toti dal Monte", Treviso
  • "Katia Ricciarelli", Mantova
  • "Placido Domingo", Bécs–Párizs
  • "Luciano Pavarotti", Budapest–Philadelphia
  • "Lucia Popp", Pozsony
  • "Emmy Destinn", České Budějovice
  • "Elena Teodorini", Craiova
  • "Virginia Zeani", Târgu Mureş
  • "Házy Erzsébet", Nové Zamky

References

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  1. ^ "Kultúrpart Erdély – Zene – Opera műhely". Kulturpart.ro. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Gaetano Donizetti: Szerelmi Bájital". Hungarianopera.ro. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Szerelmi bájital | ERDON". Erdon.ro. 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Aida – eveniment şi piatră de hotar mediatic". Ziarul de Iasi. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  5. ^ a b "An Aniversar "Verdi": Opera Naţională Română Iaşi sărbătoreşte cu "Aida"". Ziarul Evenimentul. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  6. ^ a b ""Aida", măreţia Egiptului antic". Ziarul Faclia. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  7. ^ a b "A şasea producţie în şase luni". Onlinegallery.ro. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Igen színvonalas játék". Iseum.eu. 6 August 2013. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  9. ^ "Silvia (Premieră)". operacraiova.ro. 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  10. ^ "Opereta "Silvia", în premieră la Opera Română Craiova". Radio Romania Cultural. 15 May 2014. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  11. ^ a b "Opereta "Silvia", în premieră la Opera Română Craiova". GDS.ro. 7 May 2014. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  12. ^ "Opera Română Craiova își prezintă "perla repertoriului": opereta "Silvia"". cvlpress.ro/. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Opereta "Silvia", premiera astăzi la ORC". editie.ro. 15 May 2014. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  14. ^ "De două ori". adevarul.ro. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  15. ^ a b "Elixirul dragostei". operacraiova.ro. 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  16. ^ a b "Poveste de iubire cu temperament italian la Opera Română Craiova: "Elixirul dragostei", în premieră". CVLPress.ro. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  17. ^ a b ""Elixirul dragostei", pe scena Operei Române Craiova". Gazeta de Sud. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  18. ^ a b "Elixirul dragostei, la Craiova". Youtube.com. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  19. ^ a b "On "Sonnambula de Bellini" in the first absolute audition in Romania at the Virginia Zeani International Opera Festival". vaaju.com. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  20. ^ a b "Opera Traviata a încheiat festivalul omagial din Tg Mureş dedicat celebrei soprane Virginia Zeani – MUZICA INSTANTELOR". muzicainstantelor.ro. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  21. ^ a b ""La Traviata" a încheiat prima ediţie a Festivalului de operă "Virginia Zeani"". Punctul.ro (in Romanian). 29 June 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  22. ^ "Marton Melinda énekművészt ünnepli a magyar opera". szabadsag.ro (in Hungarian). Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  23. ^ "Puritanii de Bellini - o adevărată premieră". adevarul.ro. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  24. ^ "'Puritanii', premieră la Opera Română din Cluj-Napoca". adevarul.ro. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  25. ^ "Primul Festival al Operelor Naţionale | onlinegallery.ro :: pixels of culture". onlinegallery.ro. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  26. ^ "Színházi utak és útkeresések". Mno.hu. 20 June 2011. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  27. ^ "NolTV - "A nagy gesztusok itt hamisan hatnak"". www.noltv.hu. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  28. ^ "Silvia (Premieră)". operacraiova.ro. 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  29. ^ "Opereta "Silvia", în premieră la Opera Română Craiova | Top 5 evenimente la zi | Radio Romania Cultural". Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  30. ^ "Opera Română Craiova își prezintă "perla repertoriului": opereta "Silvia"". CVLPress.ro. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  31. ^ "De două ori". adevarul.ro. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  32. ^ "European Academy of Sciences and Arts". Euro-acad.eu. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
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