"Ein Tristan von nobelstem Stahl...": The Influence of a Czech Wagner-tenor on Hungarian Musical Life in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Szabó, Ferenc János (2014) "Ein Tristan von nobelstem Stahl...": The Influence of a Czech Wagner-tenor on Hungarian Musical Life in the First Half of the Twentieth Century. In: Operowy Kontrapunkt. Libretto w Europie Środkowej i Wschodniej. Wydawnictwo Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk, Poznań, pp. 255-274. ISBN 978-83-7654-300-0

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Abstract

In spite of the German-based musical culture at the end of the nineteenth century in Budapest, the ensemble of the Royal Hungarian Opera House was not able to play all of the available operas by Wagner. The Hungarian premiere of Tristan und Isolde took place only in 1901, with the young Karel Burian in the role of Tristan. Burian performed regularly at the Opera House in Budapest from 1900 until his death. He shouldered the Wagner-repertoire of the Royal Hungarian Opera House as a member of the Opera for one year, than later as a permanent guest singer. His appearance was the starting-point of the Wagner-cult of Budapest at the beginning of the twentieth century; not only the audience but indirectly also the newest generation of young Hungarian composers – Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály – was under his influence. In the present article I will investigate how the musical life of Budapest was transformed by his activity. Because of his singing style – and maybe of his stage appearance – he did not meet the requirements of Cosima Wagner’s Bayreuth style: in fact, he sang only once in Bayreuth. Nevertheless, in Budapest his singing style was associated with the city of Bayreuth. The consequences of this are to be felt not only on the early Hungarian Wagner-recordings but also on the recordings made towards the middle of the century.

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