The colorful diversity of the Hungarian peasant traditions appear in dynamically alternating images – the acrobatics of the male dances, the poetry of the female dances, and the virtuosity of the couples’ dances. The most beautiful melodies of folk culture surface at times as dance accompaniments, or as whimsical solos, and at other times as tempestuous orchestral play.
Froma musical point of view, in addition to the older layers of Hungarian folk music, Hungarian Rhapsody also devotesspace to csárdás and verbunkos music rooted in the 19thcentury. This very distinctive and unmistakable new genre, whose origins and aftertimes played back and forth between folk music and classical music, influenced both Hungarian and non-Hungarian culture as well: creators such as Brahms, Berlioz and Franz Liszt.
What makes the performance unique, among other things, is that it balances between "spectacle" and "intellect" with good sensibilities. Its movements of dynamic, monumental, lyrical, and gloomy tones are melded into an organic unit with the music and the visuals, coupled with consistently changing space drawings. Following the best examples of the genre, the choreographies are arrayed before us with great mood changes. The themes of the dance scenes are provided by the folklore of the Carpathian Basin, which the creators have selected and condensed, and to the specific scenes of which they have rendered added thought and emotional content, in accordance with the ruthless rules of the theater.
Performed by the Hungarian State Folk Dance Ensemble and Orchestra
Solists: Júlia Kubinyi, Milán Hetényi
Music: Attila Gera, Ágnes Herczku, Milán Hetényi, Tamás Nyitrai, István Szalonna Pál, Feenc Sebő, Ferenc Zimber
Composers: László Kelemen, István Szalonna Pál, Ferenc Sebő
Choreographers: György Ágfalvi, Péter Darabos, Máté Farkas, Dezső Fitos, Klára Hetényi –Kulcsár, Enikő Kocsis, Gábor Mihályi, Tamás Szappanos
Costumes Designer: EDit Szűcs
Visual Designer: György Árvai
Light: Ákos Gimpel
Director-Choreographer: Gábor Mihályi
Music Director: Gyula Karacs
Band Director: Ferenc Radics
Dance Ensemble Leader: György Ágfalvi
Dance Ensemble Assistants: Beatrix Borbély, Péter Darabos, Klára Hetényi-Kulcsár, Katalin Jávor, Máté Farkas
Artistic Director: István Szalonna Pál
Company Manager: Gábor Mihály
