The Blue Hat

Working on his two-act opera The Blue Hat in the late 1940s, László Lajtha (1892-1963) asked the Spanish writer Salvador de Madariaga to write the French-language text for it. Although the opera buffa would remain close to Lajtha's heart until the end of his life, he never quite managed to finish the score. The orchestration was completed by Ferenc Farkas in 1985, and Hungarian Radio successfully recorded the work in this form. At the end of 1998, the company of the Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) Hungarian Opera presented the work at the Thália Theatre, and now the opera once again promises to be a true treat. Tibor Tallián summed up the plot in a few words: “This is a tale about young lovers, the old people standing in their way, and Scapin and Florinette, the cunning pair of servants who are crucial allies in the triumph of the youngsters' love over the opposition of their elders. By means of the titular blue hat itself...”

General cast:

Conductor: György Selmeczi
The doctor: Sándor Balla
The notary: János Szilágyi
Cassandre: Tamás Daróczi
Sylvia: Enikő Pataki
Violette: Zsejke Székely
Coraline: Orsolya Veress
Léandre: Tamás Kóbor
Lélio: Levente Szabó
L'Épaulette: Csaba Sándor
Florinette: Yolanda Covacinschi
Scapin: Zoltán Bátki Fazekas

Credits:

Hungarian text: Frigyes Róna / László Dalos

Premiere: May 22, 2017