Zoltán Kodály: Johnny Háry | MVM Pikoló Program
Titled Johnny Háry, this children’s performance brings Zoltán Kodály’s legendary singspiel closer to young audiences as the opening event of the Háry100 series.
Schedule
How can General Háry János’s hair-raising adventures speak meaningfully to today’s young people in an age flooded with AI-generated, often false information? The children’s performance titled Johnny Háry, launched as the opening event of the Háry100 series, offers a fresh and playful answer to this question.
Ádám Dávid, author of numerous children’s books and rhyming tales, brings Zoltán Kodály’s legendary singspiel closer to young audiences. Its immersive frame story and sparkling verse interludes are brought to life by director Mária Harangi, the Hungarian State Opera’s leading répétiteur, under the musical direction of Nikolett Hajzer, chorus master of the Children’s Chorus.
The production fits seamlessly into the youth repertoire created in recent years—such as János vitézke, The Taming of the Shrew (The Wayward Princess), István, the King (Junior), The Little Chimney Sweep, and Hungarian Christmas—all staged at the Opera House and the Eiffel Workshop House. This brand-new “makett” (scaled-down) production by the hundred-strong chorus will be hosted in the Miklós Bánffy Hall.
Running time: 1 hour 15 minutes, without intermission
Language: Hungarian
Conductor: Nikolett Hajzer
Cast:
Háry János: Máté Fülep
Aunt Zsóka: Vivienne Ortan
Jojó: Dániel Tanka
Böbe: Mira Braunmüller
Mara: Ágnes Balogh
Endre: Vince Göblyös
Zsiga: Miksa Gálbory
Emperor: Botond Márton Takács
Empress: Brigitta Turi
Napoleon: Fülöp Gergely Takács
Anna: Hanna Czepek
Ági: Sára Lujza Hesz
Marci: Miklós Döry
Muszka: Virgil Imre Magda
Krucifix: Márton Birszki
Featuring: the Orchestra and Children’s Chorus of the Hungarian State Opera
Director: Mária Harangi
Dramaturg & Librettist (adaptation): Ádám Dávid
Set & Costume Designer: Gábor Michac
Choreographer: Dénes Kovács
Music adapted by: Szabolcs Mátyássy
Children’s Chorus Master: Nikolett Hajzer
Composer: Zoltán Kodály
Original Librettists: Béla Paulini, Zsolt Harsányi
EIFFEL ART STUDIOS
The largest indoor complex in Hungarian railway history, a system of vast covered spaces unique in Europe, the Northern Railway Maintenance and Engineering Works was built between 1884 and 1886. After years of alterations and renovations, starting from 2020 it is now home to the Hungarian State Opera’s new logistics and art centre.
