Dunakeszi hosts a national cultural event on Katonadomb. On August 20, from 8 p.m., all those who visit the St. Stephen’s Day celebration in Dunakes can witness a wonderful and special concert and visual experience, where The country of the Holy Crown can enjoy its premiere, interpreted by nearly 300 performers. The event is free, everyone is welcome. The dreamer, producer and one of the lyricists of the musical work is the actor and director Géza Kaszás.
Several volumes of books have been published about the Hungarian Holy Crown, its symbols, emblems, and allusions. The history of the Holy Crown as an object, especially due to its enormous political and power significance, was very turbulent during the “stormy centuries”. The political importance of the symbolism of the Holy Crown, which has remained to this day, is shown by the ongoing debate in Hungarian public life after the regime change, which has faded a little in recent times, but fortunately an enthusiastic “three” has taken on the task of reviving the importance of the Holy Crown.
Recently, we talked with Géza Kaszás about the birth, realization and co-authors of the work. The actor told us at the beginning of our conversation that writing the oratorio was a huge job, which he started years ago with his two friends, Tibor Varga and Róbert Gulya. We found out that the idea was given by the fact that at that time a tender opportunity appeared, in which it was stated that events, works of art, and events related to the Holy Crown were to be supported.
“I noticed that no one in my environment took this opportunity, not a producer, not a director, not a writer, not a musician, nobody. I started to think about the genre in which I could adequately address this topic. I thought that the most influential performance genre these days is the concert. Thoughts expressed in music and performances accompanied by music attract crowds. If we want to present something as important as the Holy Crown to the people, then we have to choose this path, and in order for this voice to be heard as far as possible, we need the help of a huge choir and orchestra.
I was looking for partners for this task. With Róbert Gulya, who wrote the music for all my films. His last work is a Now or never music from the movie. He is the composer of the oratorio. We were joined by Tibor Varga, my friend who is a legal historian, poet, lyricist, and a very serious connoisseur of the doctrine of the Holy Crown,” says Géza Kaszás.
When the “trio” came together, the intensive intellectual work lasting several years began. Géza Kaszás formulated the task, together with Tibor Varga they shaped the spirit of the work, wrote and edited its text. Composer Róbert Gulya sent the thoughts expressed in the music. These were sometimes finalized after long discussions and debates. This is how the five-movement, 70-minute work in total was born.
“Since I started my artistic career as an actor – then I also dealt with other things, such as directing films and acting as a producer – so impact is very important to me. Not what I feel as a creator, but what we can get out of the viewers. I think this is one of the most important aspects of any artistic work. Knowing exactly what we want to say, what we want to evoke in the viewers and the audience. Therefore, it was absolutely necessary to keep in mind that the performed work should be an enjoyable, exciting and cathartic experience for everyone. The country of the Holy Crown meets this expectation. The piece, performed with a symphonic orchestra and choir, creates a sound world that showers the audience with an energy that even rock bands cannot compete with.
The world is changing, musical genres are adapting so that everyone can understand the ideas they want to convey and not be able to remove themselves from its influence. I am confident that many people will come to the performance, since film music concerts are extremely popular, and we have written music for the most beautiful, most exciting, and dramatic “film”, for our history, which fully meets the musical tastes of today, even for the young generation.
The country of the Szent Korona is a very dynamic and captivating work, it has a huge impact on the audience”, emphasized Géza Kaszás – from whom we also learned that the performance will also be rich in visual elements. They dreamed up a huge LED wall behind the 200-member choir, the 70-member Dunakeszi Symphony Orchestra and the soloists, on which an extremely spectacular film is continuously projected during the performance. Edvin Lipák hastened to their aid so that this visual world serves the performance in the most demanding and spectacular form. The stage lighting only enhances the experience.
The five-movement work presents important events from the history of Hungarians, from the beginning of the world to the hopefully happy future that awaits us.
“One of his movements evokes the coronation of Matthias. The Holy Crown is considered an initiation crown. Perhaps this is evidenced by the fact that coronations in Hungary always took place in the context of a holy mass. If someone was crowned with this crown, he received the task and the authority from God. A coronation oath is also taken. Unfortunately, we do not know whether Mátyás swore an oath with these words, but it is very likely, because our kings said this oath both before and after him. The fifth movement is actually a wonderful hymn that suggests a common and happier future for the entire country,” we learned about the work.
The Holy Crown has always had a unifying and cohesive role. As a symbol of the nation, the crown belonged to all territories that belonged to Hungarians, and to every single soul that declared itself Hungarian. These were members of the Holy Crown.
We talk less about the crown lately, the birth of the work is also important because attention can be directed to it again. Perhaps after the presentation and subsequent lectures, the Holy Crown and everything related to it that our ancestors believed in will gain more emphasis in public opinion and education.
“We processed the battle of Nándorfehérvár in 1456 in the greatest possible detail using the means of musical effects. This is one of the most dynamic and spectacular parts of the work. Although they all are, I considered this important because Nándorfehérvár was then the site of the world’s greatest battle for Christianity. It is quite amazing that in this battle, along with the castle defenders and János Hunyadi’s small number of battle-hardened soldiers, as well as the crusaders led by János Kapistzrán, military untrained Hungarian people made up of laymen, citizens, and students fought their heroic struggle against the triple superiority of the most modern, most capable army in the world at the time. ” – we heard the opinion of Géza Kaszás.
“The large-scale performance on August 20 would not have been possible without the money won in the Civil Support Fund’s tender, but we also received serious help from the Municipality of Dunakeszi. In addition, businesses and entrepreneurs in the region also contribute to the realization, such as Swietelsky Magyarország Kft., Penta Kft. and Kállay 2 Service. Our media sponsor is Dunakeszi Polgár,and the Danube Bend Region.
Among the performers we will see the Ferenc Liszt Prize-winning opera singer Szilvia Rálik, a worthy artist who embodies the Blessed Virgin in the oratorio. Our male soloist is Manuel Betancourt Camino, a performer with a beautiful voice who has sung on many stages around the world and is a citizen of Dunakes.
The presentation could not take place if Pál Farkas, the conductor of the Dunakeszi Symphony Orchestra does not see the opportunity in the work and would not bring together the choirs of Dunakeszi and the surrounding settlements, the Dunakeszi Symphony Orchestra, the artists and creators living in the region. This way we can say that the presentation is Dunakeszi, and is created as a joint cultural effort of the region.
I am confident that thousands of people will take their seats on Katonadomb at the free event, so that together we can witness the birth of a wonderful, soul-lifting oratorio,” said Géza Kaszás.
Imre Vetési
2024-07-10 07:49:48