National Theater (Budapest)
The National Theater ( Hungarian : Nemzeti színház ) in Budapest , just called Nemzeti for short , is the most important spoken theater in Hungary .
The history of the Hungarian national theater
The beginnings
The most important stage in the country often had to change its seat. The idea of building a Hungarian national theater had been around since the beginning of the 19th century. The great reformer and initiator Count István Széchenyi was finally commissioned by the Pest County Cultural Commission in 1831 to work out a corresponding study. His book Magyar játékszinrül ("From a Hungarian stage"), published in April 1832, advocated a large national fundraising campaign and the establishment of a joint-stock company. Foreign stages should be studied as role models. Széchenyi then campaigned for a representative building on the banks of the Danube - Archduke Joseph also made a corresponding piece of land available. The further development slipped away from Széchenyi. In 1836 the Hungarian parliament ordered the building of the theater. But it was created in a far less representative place. The Hungarian Theater in Pest was located in what was then Kerepesi út, now Rákóczi út, across from today's Hotel Astoria from 1837–1908. From August 22, 1837 to 1840, the simple building was called Pesti Magyar Színház . After a financial crisis in the theater, the disappointed Széchenyi nevertheless stood up for the theater in a fair way - the Pressburg state parliament declared the house to be national property. It was later given its current name Magyar Nemzeti Színház .
Two legendary directors were Ede Szigligeti (the famous Lujza Blaha played in his ensemble from 1870 ) and its director, Ede Paulay . Many Hungarian plays became famous on the stage of the theater at that time: Bánk bán by József Katona , 1879 Csongor and Tünde by Mihály Vörösmarty , 1883 The Tragedy of Man by Imre Madách . In addition to the Hungarian classics, works by Shakespeare , Molière and Schiller were regularly on the program. The acting stars of the turn of the century were Mari Jászai (after whom the square on the Pest side of Margaret Bridge is named), Imre Szacsvay , Ede Ujházy , Emilia Márkus , later Árpád Ódry (the stage of the drama academy is named after him), Gizi Bajor , Áotrpád , Tivadar Uray , József Timár , Ferenc Kiss .
The theater on Blaha Lujza-tér
In 1913 the old building was demolished due to the risk of fire. In its place, from 1908, the theater company replaced the stately, 2400-seated, 1874-1875 by the architects Ferdinand Fellner the Elder. J. and Hermann Helmer rented the people's theater (Népszinház) built. This building, located at today's Blaha Lujza tér (Lujza Blaha was a famous theater actress), was the home of the National Theater until 1964, when the theater experienced its heyday. Important directors at that time were Zoltán Ambrus and Sándor Hevesi . In 1935 Antal Németh was appointed director. After the severe damage in World War II , the theater was renovated and opened in September 1945. Tamás Major , who replaced Németh that year, remained director of the National Theater until 1962. A famous director of the time was Endre Gellért , who directed works by Gyula Illyés and László Németh . Famous members of the ensemble of this era were Ági Mészáros , Lajos Básti , Ferenc Bessenyei , Ferenc Ladányi , Erzsi Máthé , Margit Lukács , Ferenc Kállai , Hédi Váradi , Imre Sinkovits , János Rajz , Mari Törőcsik , György Kálmán , many are also known from that time films.
The building, steeped in tradition, was even sung about (in an old song by Lajos Lajtai it says: Hétre ma várom a Nemzetinél, ott, ahol a hatos megáll - at 7 a.m. I will wait for you at Nemzeti, where the sixth stops ) because, according to the authorities, it stood in the way of building a subway line, it was blown up on April 23, 1965. As a result, the National Theater first moved (1964–66) to Nagymező Street, then from 1966 to 2000 to the building of today's Magyar Szinház (Hungarian Theater) on Sándor Hevesi Sándor Square.
Actions for the construction of a new national theater
There were decades of discussions about the location and the planning of a new national theater.
From 1983 there were numerous campaigns for a new national theater: first of all, you could donate money to an account set up for this purpose , or buy special postage stamps for a good cause. The women's magazine Nők Lapja held a charity gala evening on December 2nd, which raised one million forints. A lady who emigrated to America, Erzsébet Spéter donated $ 20,000. In 1987 so-called " brick brands" (Téglajegy) with a nominal value of 100 forints were issued on the initiative of the famous Hungarian actress Hilda Gobbi . The plan of a theater in the city park was depicted on the securities . The campaign brought in only 240 million forints, whereby the calculated cost was about 3 billion forints. The national theater topic slowly disappeared from the agenda. Later, the contiguous Deák tér / Erzsébet tér , the Vörösmarty tér and the Millenáris Park came into question. Construction work on Erzsébet tér even started in 1998, but was canceled on the grounds that the noise of the subway under the square could disturb the performances. The construction site was transformed into a modern park.
The new building
After decades of debate, it was finally possible to move into a new house in Bajor Gizi Park (in the 9th district) directly on the Lágymányos Bridge . The current building in the IX. District ( Ferencváros ) on the east bank of the Danube, i.e. in Pest , is kept in the postmodern style and is one of the newer landmarks of the Hungarian capital. It was opened on January 2, 2002 by then Prime Minister Viktor Orbán .
Some accused the government of the time that the construction work had been formally rushed through between 1999 (building decision on August 17) and the election year 2002 and criticized the relatively modest capacity of the hall and the direct award of the contract by government commissioner Schwajda to a relatively inexperienced architect. Proponents of the building emphasized that the rapid implementation of the project at least resulted in a solution to the problem that had been simmering for decades.
The National Theater was finally built by the architect Mária Siklós , who laid the foundation stone for the cultural center of the new millennium district on September 14, 2000 . Since then, the new Müpa Budapest cultural center (concert hall, theater and exhibition space) has also been built in the immediate vicinity. The route of a suburban railway line leading past the theater is to be relocated in a tunnel in the medium term.
Stage technology and architectural features
From the perspective of the fountain in front of the main entrance, the richly decorated building evokes the association of a river steamer. The theater was later expanded to include an open-air stage. With the surrounding park areas, the National Theater covers an area of 20,844 m².
The theater building can be divided into three parts: the central building of the big stage with the almost circular auditorium and the studio stage, the outer part of the building for the audience and the U-shaped operating part around the big stage.
The actual theater is on three floors, there are two glass lifts, and the panorama of Budapest can be admired from the two upper floors. The rehearsal stages are on the 2nd, 4th and 5th floors. The sound engineering is on the 4th floor.
The statues on the facade of the theater were created according to designs by Imre Schrammel . Péter Raab Párkányi designed the statues of the nine muses at the entrance to the building. The landscape architect Péter Török designed the outdoor facilities. This includes the garden and the statue park. The park around the theater forms an architectural complement to the theater. The gate to the park was designed by the sculptor Miklós Melocco . Access to the Danube bank and its promenade is currently blocked by the suburban railway HÉV - due to the lowering of the railway line, there was no timely agreement between the government and the municipality.
The main stage auditorium has space for 619 spectators. The dimensions of the stage are: 24 m in width, 17.9 m in depth and 28 m in height. The main stage can be extended by a maximum of 3.60 m. There is a back stage of 15 by 15 m, and an 18 by 15 m side stage on the left side of the director, which is 7 m high. There is a costume store above the auditorium. The studio stage is also equipped with the latest technology, there is a 12 x 12 m, retractable platform in the stage. The studio stage is located under the entrance hall and the auditorium.
literature
- Tamás Koltai: A New National. In: Hungarian Quarterly , No. 166/2002 (also available on the web).
- Robert Schediwy: City images - reflections on the change in architecture and urbanism . Lit, Vienna 2004, ISBN 978-3-8258-7755-2 , p. 289 ff.
Web links
- Website of the theater (Hungarian)
- Hungarian National Theater - visitor information (German)
Individual certificates (mostly in Hungarian)
- ↑ The History of the National Theater ( Memento from June 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Archive of the daily newspaper Népszabadság ( Memento of June 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ The proposal by József Finta ( Memento of June 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Construction work on Erzsébet tér started
- ↑ Technology and Architecture ( Memento from April 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 47 ° 28 ′ 15 ″ N , 19 ° 4 ′ 15 ″ E