Peasant Honour | A Glass of Water

Length of the performance: 3 hours (with one interval)

Mascagni’s classic masterpiece, Peasant Honour is the first part of the evening. Peasants are celebrating the return of Spring in a Sicilian village on Easter Sunday. Love and jelousy, betrayal and tragedy drive the plot – eternal topics that are still valid on stage today. The opera is realistic, events and relationships are expressed by strong, emotional music.

A Glass of Water is a contemporary opera composed by Béla Faragó. The libretto was written by János Háy.

The piece is a Hungarian paraphrase of the Mascagni opera set in today’s Hungary. Water pipes are being laid in a tiny village. Locals are not in favour of the new initiative, however the project can not be stopped. The work manager Dani Túri knocks on a door to ask for water in the Summer heat. The door is opened by a young woman called Marika who slowly falls for the young work manager. Busdriver Petya Maszkáni, the husband trusts his wife. Unfortunately a jelous neighbour arouses his suspicion. Finally the full story comes out, the neighbour was right: the wife is cheating on the husband. The outcome is fatal. The opera is playful, funny and shockingly tragic at the same time. Although it is played in today’s Hungary, general human problems are depicted in it. We are faced with the poverty and defencelessness of rural Hungary as well as the happiness and the tragedy of love.

With the Pannon Philharmonic and the Choir of the Pécs National Theatre.