Pannon Philharmonic

Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra is among the founders and frequent participants of the Armel Opera Festival and the competition taking place within its framework. The ensemble provided musical accompaniment for the adaptation of Private View by Annelies van Parys and The Siege of Calais by Donizetti in 2015.

This year, the best production of the opera competition proved to be the contemporary opera, Private View, performed by the Belgian Muziektheater Transparant, which is the adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. The piece featuring Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra was composed by Annelies van Parys and was directed by Tom Creed.

Marlène Assayag was chosen to be the best performer of the competition. The French soprano performed The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute by Mozart. The play, directed by Róbert Alföldi, was performed by the National Theatre of Szeged. The prize awarded to the best performer was an opportunity to give an independent full-length concert accompanied by Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra in Kodály Centre, Pécs.

The 2015 Armel Opera Festival and competition took place in multiple venues. The festival presenting both contemporary and classical operas is hosted in Thália Theatre in Budapest between 29 June and 3 July but this year Plzeň, as European Capital of Culture, joined the festival’s programme so Armel has become a pillar of cultural programme supply within the European Capital of Culture project.

The essence of the opera festival’s concept is the competition between the presented pieces and their performers as well. The awards for the best performers are presented by a panel of international and professional jury.  All performances were broadcast live by the French Arte Concert channel.
Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra as an innovative minded and open art workshop welcomes the programme of Armel Opera Festival every year. The orchestra intends to be an active partner even in the opera genre’s innovative, international and new productions so it is going to be the number one participant of the performances in the 2016 opera competition as well.