Róbert Ilosfalvy
Róbert Ilosfalvy [ro ː bɛrt iloʃfɒlvi ] ( born June 18, 1927 in Hódmezővásárhely; † January 6, 2009 in Budapest) was a Hungarian operatic tenor and is regarded as one of the greatest Hungarian singer.
Life and work
Róbert Ilosfalvys vocal talent was discovered during his school days in the church choir and the choir of the middle school. During his military service he sang some solos in the choir of the Hungarian People's Army. From 1949 to 1953 he studied in Budapest singing with Imre Molnár, Györgyné Jászó ( Margit Clauser, 1887-1963 ) and Andor Lendvai ( 1901-1964 ).
In 1954 he made his debut in Budapest as Laszló Hunyadi in Ferenc Erkel's eponymous National Opera after the year before with the aria of Stolzing from Wagner's Die Meistersinger bán ( " morning bright ...") and the aria " Home, home " from Erkel's opera Bánk a international singing competition won in Bucharest.
In the following years Ilosfalvy was heard in the operas of Ferenc Erkel, but also as Tamino in Mozart's Magic Flute, Stolzing in Wagner's Die Meistersinger, Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto, Manrico in Il Trovatore, Alvaro in Forza del Destino and Alfredo in La Traviata, and even as Otello heard, though his voice was not suited for this heroic tenor role. Don José in Bizet's Carmen and the large rolls from Puccini's operas were like him cut to the body - especially the Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Johnson in The Girl of the Golden West. In 1958 he undertook a trip to the Modern and sang in a production of Oedipus Rex ( Stravinsky ). Even in classical operettas and as an oratorio singer Ilosfalvy was successful, not least in Haydn's Creation and in Verdi's Messa da Requiem.
One of the highlights of his work in Budapest was the performance of Puccini's La Bohème with Erzsebet Hazy as Mimi, György Melis as Marcello and Róbert Ilosfalvy as Rodolfo (1957). Conductor was Lamberto Gardelli ( 1915-1998 ). The staging was also the basis for a gramophone recording of the entire opera in Hungarian.
After a highly acclaimed production of Manon Lescaut in 1961 Ilosfalvy received first invitations to tours abroad (Amsterdam, Genoa, Moscow, Vienna ), in which he appeared, inter alia, on the side of Galina Vishnevskaya, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. From the young Hungarian conductor István Kertész, of the London Symphony Orchestra conducted at this time, he was invited to New York's Carnegie Hall to the Psalmus Hungaricus of Zoltán Kodály to sing the tenor part. This seemed to mean the international breakthrough for Ilosfalvy. In the trade press, he was even touted as a potential successor to the Jussi Björling died in 1960, with his voice certain similarities were quite noticeable. On the international opera stages, he joined the successor of the famous Hungarian tenors as Kálmán Pataky, József Simándy (1916-1997) and Sándor Kónya.
In Hungary Ilosfalvy was one of the most popular artistic personalities. In 1962 he was awarded the Liszt Prize, the highest award for musicians, two years later he was awarded the Kossuth Prize, the most important state cultural award in Hungary, excellent.
István Kertész took the singer at the Opera House Cologne, where he took over the post of chief conductor. Ilosfalvy debuted there in 1966 as Des Grieux. For the performance, he had to rehearse the role in German language. The success was overwhelming, and so the Hungarians at the Cologne Opera remained true until 1982. He was there in the major Verdi and Puccini roles - to hear with the exception of Otello and Calaf ( Turandot ). He celebrated in 1971 in an internationally acclaimed production of Puccini's The Girl of the Golden West, his greatest success.
In addition to its permanent commitment he took guest performances true abroad, in Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna, London, Los Angeles and San Francisco. At the Metropolitan Opera in New York, he has apparently never committed.
On his return to Hungary in 1982, he was again a member of the State Opera House in Budapest, whose lifelong honorary member he was since 1992.
Ilosfalvy regarded as the greatest Hungarian operatic tenor since Kálmán ( Koloman v.) Pataky ( 1896-1964 ). His voice was of exceptional beauty of sound that made him the ideal Puccini tenor, while he was rather pale in the dramatic roles of Verdi operas.