BÉNI EGRESSY
(1814–1851)
Memorial Exhibition on the 150th Anniversary of His Death
May 30, 2001– June 30, 2002
The
records of the outstanding theatre man of the 19th-century Hungarian dramatic
art gave a spectacular overview of his manysided activity as actor, singer,
composer, librettist, playwright and translator. Béni Egressy began his career
in 1834 as actor at Kassa (today Kosiče, Slovakia) and Kolozsvár (today Cluj-Napoca,
Romania). After a short period spent at the Castle Theatre of Pest from 1835
he and his brother Gábor Egressy were engaged with the National Theatre opened
in 1837. He worked there till his death. At the beginning he was a member of
the choir and appeared in smaller parts in dramas, later he was seen in smaller
baritone parts of operas as well. In 1838 he went on a study tour in Italy.
After having returned he collaborated with the founder of Hungarian national
opera, Ferenc Erkel and wrote the librettos for the first operas of the eminent
composer as Bátori Mária (1840), Hunyadi László (1844) and
the later performed Bánk Bán (1861).
Beside his prosaic works he composed incidental music to various plays and songs.
He won first prize in a competition in 1843 with his setting of Mihály Vörösmarty’s
Szózat (The Appeal) recognized as a second Hungarian national anthem.
This talented personality created many works for the stage including comedies,
popular plays with songs and dances (he was a self-taught composer) and translated
several foreign pieces among them about 50 French plays, 19 Italian and French
opera librettos between 1842 and 1851. He died at a young age of 37.
The exhibition was
arranged by the Theatre History Collection and the Music Collection in 1999.
Curator: Domokos Dániel Kis
