OPERA VIVA was founded in Budapest in 1995 with the objective of realizing opera and concert productions, training young musicians and opera singers and helping them towards professional careers their talents deserve.
Opera Viva's first public appearance took place in the Dominican Yard of the Budapest Hilton Hotel. Donizetti's opera L'elisir d'amore was performed in a new production sung in Italian on ten nights. The singers of the opera production also appeared in concerts together with guests from home and abroad.
The favourable acceptance encouraged OPERA VIVA to continue and extend the concept. Thus, OPERA VIVA FESTIVAL '97 was realized in Hilton Dominican Yard in July 1997, with a success that surpassed the previous year, drawing the attention and interest of the public in the neighbouring countries as well.
In 1998, the Festival appeared at new venues. The guest performances of the 200-year-old Hungarian State Opera of Kolozsvár, the oldest Hungarian music company took place at the Thália Theatre. Verdi's masterpiece Macbeth was performed, sung in Italian, and the singers of the production showed their talents to the Budapest public at gala concerts as well. The classical programme was rendered varied by a series of symphony and chamber concerts at Stefánia Palace, Stefánia Glass Palace and the gorgeous yard of the Army History Institute.
The main objective of OPERA VIVA is to realize opera and concert productions where young artists of excellent talents are granted a fair opportunity to work together with well known partners and experience success as the fruit of high standard work.
In our time, when it is more and more difficult to provide adequate conditions for artistic work, it is especially important that there should be theatrical workshops which do not pursue success and money or turn inwards and show their back to the audience but try to do ambitious artistic work in such a way that it serves the pleasure and instruction of both artists and audience.
Besides that, we strive at presenting talented artists from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as we do beleive that by doing so we not only nourish the best traditions of music but also bring the peoples of this region closer to each other.
In our activities we pay special attention to Italian music and opera, as Italy, the cradle of European arts and the homeland of the opera has always been and is still the defining agent in the music and opera culture of the world.
In 2005, OPERA VIVA produced an abridged version of Mozart's Don Giovanni (playing time: about two hours). The opera was produced in cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute of Budapest, which also served as the representative venue of the first performance.
OPERA VIVA STUDIO started its activity in the scholastic year of 2006/2007. The Studio aims at the training and all-round preparation of talented young singers for a professional artistic career. All those who have backed this idea with encouragement or advice and by providing venues for the classes and productions have a decisive role in the foundation of the Opera Studio. Our special thanks to the direction of Kájoni János Franciscan House, without whose help and understanding the Studio could not work.
