Incument director remains in office at Budapest Opera House

Incumbent Szilveszter Ókovács has won the tender to serve as director general of the Budapest Opera House for another five years, Culture and Innovation Minister János Csák told a press conference on Friday.

By winning the tender, Ókovács will be the longest serving director in the Opera’s history, he said. “This is an enormous opportunity and is going at the same time with an even greater responsibility,” Csák said. Ókovács expressed thanks to his colleagues and to the government for “the 100 billion forints invested in the institution’s development, and the additional 150 billion allocated for its operation which the Opera could match with an amount of 30 billion”.

He said his aim was to make the Hungarian State Opera an institution of European niveau. Ókovács , a former television host who graduated as an opera singer, worked as government commissioner and then interim director at the Opera in 2011-2012. He has served two terms since 2013.