Biography
Eva Marton is one of the most outstanding sopranos of the world. Her wide repertory is almost unique: beside Verdi-, Puccini-, R. Strauss- and Wagner-roles she has at home in the world of the verismo (Giordano, Ponchielli), too. She started her career as a lyric soprano and after a consistent work for many years she became one of the greatest dramatic sopranos of our age, who has been among the best singers of the world for 30 years.
After she graduated as an opera singer and a vocal teacher in the Franz Liszt Academy of Music (Budapest, Hungary), her first great role was Queen of Shemakma in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel (Le coq d’or) in the Hungarian State Opera (Budapest). Then she sang such significant roles there like – among others – Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Rodelinda, Tatiana, Amelia Grimaldi and Freia. Christoph von Dohnanyi saw her in the latter role and he offered a contract for her to the Frankfurt Opera, where she could build systematically her wide repertory. In 1977 she followed von Dohnányi to Hamburg Staatsoper and from 1980 she has been a free-lance.
In 1972 she performed Matilde in Rossini’s Guglielmo Tell in Maggio Musicale of Firenze with Nicolai Gedda, under the baton of Riccardo Muti. In that summer she sang Odabella in Verdi’s Attila in Open Air Theater of Margaret Island (Budapest) under the baton of Lamberto Gardelli. In 1973 she debuted in the Vienna Staatsoper as Tosca with a huge success, which was followed by Tatiana in a new Eugene Onegin-production there. in a little while. In 1974 she conquered the Bayerische Staatsoper of München as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Ruggiero Raimondi and Peter Schreier, under the baton of Wolfgang Sawallisch. In 1976 she debuted in the Metropolitan in New York as Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
In 1977-1978 in Bayreuther Festspielhaus she sang both Elisabeth and Venus in Tannhäuser under the baton of Sir Colin Davis with a huge triumph. In 1978 she debuted in La Scala of Milano as Leonora in Il trovatore with a tremendous success, the conductor was Zubin Mehta. In November she participated in the premier of Bartók’s The Bluebeard’s Castle with György Melis, under the baton of Zoltán Peskó, in the production of Giorgio Pressburger. During the 200 years of La Scala it was the first performance in Hungarian language and – last, but not least – with great success.
She participated in memorable performances – among others: Frankfurt/Main: La Forza del destino (Plácido Domingo, 1974); München: Tosca (Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, 1976); Madrid: Aida (Plácido Domingo, 1977); San Francisco: Aida (conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni, 1977); Madrid: Manon Lescaut (Plácido Domingo, 1978); Hamburg: Die Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten (Birgit Nilsson, René Kollo, conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi, 1977); Hamburg: Manon Lescaut (Plácido Domingo, directed by Götz Friedrich, conducted by Silvio Varviso, April 1979), New York, Metropolitan: Elektra – Chrysothemis (conducted by Erich Leinsdorf, December 1978 – January 1979). In 1979 she debuted in Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires with a tremendous success: as Lohengrin’s Elsájaként, then as the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten with Birgit Nilsson, under the baton of Marek Janowski. In 1979 she had also a memorable triumph as Maddalena in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier with Plácido Domingo and Renato Bruson, directed by Tito Gobbi, conducted by Bruno Bartoletti. In December there was a special event: there was the first opera performance in the Philippines. The San Francisco Opera had guest performances there: Tosca (Eva Marton, Plácido Domingo, Justino Diaz, conducted by Kurt Adler) and La Forza del destino (Eva Marton, Giuseppe Giacomini, Justino Diaz, vezényelt Kurt Adler).
In February of 1980 she debuted in Grand Théâtre de Genève as Ariadne in R.Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with Edita Gruberova. In La Scala of Milan she got “Silver Rose” Prize for her outstanding artistic and singing production in Tosca. Its premier was on 15 March 1980 with Luciano Pavarotti, under the baton of Seiji Ozawa. She sang Ariadne in Münchner Opern-Festspiele, under the baton of Wolfgang Sawallisch, then she portrayed Aida in Terme di Caracalla. She didn’t prolong her contract in Hamburg, since then she has been a free-lance.
In May of 1981 she debuted in Japan in Fidelio, under the baton of Wolfgang Sawallisch, then in Münchner Opern-Festspiele she sang her first Helena in R. Strauss’s Die ägyptische Helena, again under the baton of Sawallisch. In October she had a great breakthrough in the Metropolitan of New York as the Empress in R. Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten with Birgit Nilsson, conducted by Eric Leinsdorf. For her excellent portrayal she was chosen for The Singer of the Year by the New York Times.
In March of 1982 she sang her first Fedora in Giordano’s opera, under the baton of Nello Santi. Because of the Falklands War she sang Tosca in Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires under extremely reduced circumstances. Her partner was Plácido Domingo, the audience showed its gratitude: they had an indescribable triumph. In June she debuted in Salzburg Festival in Fidelio with Rainer Goldberg, under the baton of Lorin Maazel. In September she sang her first Gioconda in the Opening Night of the Metropolitan with Plácido Domingo, under the baton of Giuseppe Patane, then in November she portrayed Tannhäuser’s Elisabeth there with Richard Cassily and Bernd Weikl, under the baton of James Levine. The production has been recorded on videotape. For her performances in these two roles she was chosen for The Artist of the Year of the New York Times.
In January of 1983 she sang in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 for Sony in Wien with Jessye Norman under the baton of Lorin Maazel. In February she debuted with a sweeping triumph in Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona as Leonora in La Forza del destino. In April she sang Maddalena in Andrea Chénier in the Vienna Staatsoper. In June 12 she sang her first Turandot in the Vienna Staatsoper – and with this breakthrough she came out to the absolute first rank in Europe, too. Turandot has become one of her most important roles. In Wien her partners were Katia Riccarelli and Jose Carreras under the baton of Lorin Maazel, in the production of Harald Prince. The performance was broadcasted live on television. A film and a live recording were made from the production. In October she sang Turandot with Franco Bonisolli in Giancarlo del Monaco’s new production in Hamburg, conducted by Giuseppe Patanè. Between two performances in Hamburg she opened the 8-hours-long Centennial Gala of the Metropolitan in New York with Turandot’s aria. In November she sang Turandot in Boston. In summer she made her Wagner solo-album for SEFEL under the baton of Árpád Joó. She performed Fidelio’s Leonora again in the Salzburg Festival with James King, under the baton of Lorin Maazel. She finished the year with this role in the Metropolitan with Jon Vickers, under the baton of Klaus Tennstedt.
In 12 April 1984 she debuted as Houston Grand Opera as Tosca with Plácido Domingo and Ingvar Wixell, under the baton of John de Main. On 26 May she sang her first Brünnhilde in Siegfried with a tremendous success in the San Francisco Summer Festival with René Kollo, under the baton of Edo de Waart, in the production of Nikolaus Lehnhoff. In July she sang Liszt’s oratorio entitled Die Legende von der Heiligen Elisabeth in Matthias Church and for Hungaroton in Budapest under the baton of Árpád Joó. In August she debuted in Arena di Verona as Tosca with Giacomo Aragall and Ingvar Wixell, conducted by Daniel Oren. The production has been recorded on film. On 24 September she sang her first Lohengrin’s Ortrud in the Opening Night of the Metropolitan. In the Metropolitan’s history it was the first Wagner-performance, which was interrupted by the standing ovation after the “Entweihte Götter”! Her partners were Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Plácido Domingo and Franz Ferdinand Nentwig, under the baton of James Levine, in the production of August Everding.
At the end of the year she sang Gioconda with José Carreras in Barcelona. For her artistic and vocal performance she won “Große Lob” Prize of the German newspaper “Orpheus”.
In January and February 1985 she sang Sieglinde in the Act 1 of Wagner’s Die Walküre in four concerts with Peter Hofmann and Martti Talvela under the baton of Zubin Mehta in Avery Fischer Hall in New York. The concert was recorded by CBS. In February and in March she sang in a R. Strauss-concert in Toronto under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis: besides the Schlussgesang of Salome and Vier letzte Lieder the world premiere of the song entitled Malven took place in this concert, which was recorded by CBS. In April she sang Turandot in La Scala of Milano with Nicola Martinucci, under the baton of Lorin Maazel. In 8 June she sang Götterdämmerung‘s Brünnhilde in San Francisco Summer Feszival, under the baton of Edo de Waart, in the production of Nikolaus Lehnhoff. In June she portrayed Andrea Chénier’s Maddalena in La Scala with José Carreras and Piero Cappuccilli, under the baton of Riccardo Chailly. The production has been recorded on film. In August she recorded Giordano’s Fedora with José Carreras under the baton of Giuseppe Patanè for CBS in Budapest. On 16 October she had her first appearance in Australia: she sang Tosca in Sydney under the baton of Alberto Erede. The production has been recorded on film. In December she made her Puccini aria recording for CBS in München under the baton of Giuseppe Patanè. In 20 December she sang Lohengrin’s Elsa with Leonie Rysanek and Peter Hofmann, under the baton of James Levine, in the production of August Everding. The production has been recorded on film.
In March 1986 she sang the Empress in R. Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten in La Scala, under the baton of Wolfgang Sawallisch, in the production of Jean Pierre Ponnelle. In 24 May she portayed Gioconda in Vienna Staatsoper with Plácido Domingo, under the baton of Adam Fischer. The performance was broadcasted live on television and a film was made from it, too. In June she sang in two production of Maggio Musicale in Firenze under the baton of Zubin Mehta: Tosca with Giuseppe Giacomini directed by Jonathan Miller and Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder with Klaus Maria Brandauer as the Narrator. In August she recorded Andrea Chénier with José Carreras and Giorgio Zancanaro, under the baton of Giuseppe Patanè for CBS in Budapest. In September on the Opening Night of Wiener Staatsoper she sang Maddalena in Andrea Chénier with Plácido Domingo. In October and in November she sung Tosca in the MET with Plácido Domingo and Juan Pons, under the baton of Garcia Navarro. For her artistic and vocal performance she was chosen The Singer of the Year beside Joan Sutherland by the New York Times.
In January 1987 she recorded her solo album with New York Harp Ensemble for Hungaraton in Budapest. In February she sang Brünnhilde in the cross section of Wagner’s Ring-tetralogy under the baton of Eve Queler in Carnegie Hall in New York. On 12 March she sang in Franco Zeffirelli’s new Turandot-production of the Metropolitan with Plácido Domingo and Leona Mitchell, under the baton of James Levine. The production has been recorded on film. In April she recorded Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle with Samuel Ramey under the baton of Adam Fischer for CBS. On 11 May she made her debut in the Covent Garden of London. In 29 May she sang her first Salome in a concert performance in Le Théâtre du Châtelet of Paris, under the baton of Marek Janowski. In July and in August she recorded La Gioconda with Lívia Budai, Giorgio Lamberti, Sherrill Milnes and Samuel Ramey, under the baton of Giuseppe Patanè for CBS in Budapest. On 8 September she sang her first Die Walküre’s Brünnhilde in a new production in Genève, under the baton of Armin Jordan. She sang Tosca in October and in November in Metropolitan Opera of New York under the baton of Christian Badea and in November and in December in the Royal Opera in London’s Covent Garden under the baton of Giuseppe Sinopoli.
In January and in February 1988 she sang Brünnhilde in Die Walküre with Cheryl Studer, Waltraud Meier, Reiner Goldberg, James Morris and Matti Salminen, under the baton of Bernard Haitink for EMI in München. In April and in May she sang both Elisabeth and Venus in Tannhäuser in Houston Grand Opera, under the baton of Julius Rudel. In July she recorded the roles of Margherita and Elena in Boito’s Mefistofele with Plácido Domingo and Samuel Ramey, under the baton of Giuseppe Patanè for Sony in Budapest. She returned to the Arena di Verona as Turandot, conducted by Nello Santi. She celebrated the 20th anniversary of her carreer in the Budapest Congress Center under the baton of Julius Rudel. The gala concert was recorded by Hungaroton. On 26 September on the Opening Night of the Metropolitan she sang Leonora in Franco Melano’s new production of Il trovatore with Luciano Pavarotti, Fiorenza Cossotto and Sherrill Milnes under the baton of James Levine. The performance on 15 October (Marton, Dolora Zajick, Pavarotti, Milnes; Levine) was broadcasted live on television all over the world (except Hungary) and a film was made from it, too. In December she portrayed Gioconda in San Francisco Opera and she recorded Tosca with José Carreras and Juan Pons, under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas for Sony in Budapest. She has become “Kammersängerin” in the Vienna Staatsoper.
In January 1989 she sang Fedora in a concert performance under the baton of Eve Qualer in the Carnegie Hall in New York. On 20 February she sang the title role in the premier of Nikolaus Lehnhoff’s new Salome-production with Bernd Weikl, under the baton of Marek Janowski. On 9 April she portrayed Leonora in Giancarlo del Monaco’s new production of La Forza del destino in the Vienna Staatsoper with Peter Dvorsky and Renato Bruson, under the baton of Garcia Navarro. On 10 June she sang her first Elektra in the Vienna Staatsoper in Harry Kupfer’s new production, conducted by Claudio Abbado. The premier was broadcasted live on television and a film was made from it, too. In the summer the Viener Staatsoper had guest performances in Salzburg Festival with this production. The Viener Staatsoper opened its 1989/90 season with this production, too. In October she recorded Catalani’s La Wally with Francisco Araiza and Alan Titus, under the baton of Pinchas Steinberg for RCA in München. On 9 November she received the “Middle Cross of the Hungarian Republic with the Star”. On 11 November she sang Tosca in a gala performance in the Hungarian State Opera, then on the next day, 12 November she had an Elektra-premier in Stuttgart Opera, conducted by Garcia Navarro.
In the beginning of 1990 she recorded Elektra for EMI with an excellent cast, under the baton of Wolfgang Sawallisch. In 27 January she sang in a new Elektra-production in Barcelona with a great success, under the baton of Uwe Mund, directed by Spain’s leading actress and director Núria Espert. Then on 3 March she participated in Götz Friedrich’s new Elektra-production, which had a tremendous success, conducted by Sir Georg Solti. “Double Hungarian Triumpf” – wrote The Times in its front page. Between 19 May and 30 June there were “Marton-Weeks” in the Vienna Staatsoper: she appeared on 11 performances there, as Elektra, Tosca, Leonora (La forza del destino) and Turandot. In August she recorded Respighi’s Semirama under the baton of Lamberto Gardelli for Hungaroton in Budapest. In September she sang Salome in Tokyo, under the baton of Seijzi Ozawa. In November she sang also Salome in Berliner Philharmoniker’s Concert Hall with Berliner Philharmoniker, under the baton of Zubin Mehta. The Sony has made a record with the performance’s cast, too. Then she had an Elektra-series in Antwerp, under the baton of Stefan Soltesz. In November she recorded Wagner’s Siegfried with Siegfried Jerusalem, under the baton of Bernard Haitink for EMI in München. In December she sang Ariadne in Bonn.
In January 1991 she sang Tosca again in Houston Grand Opera in Jonathan Miller’s production (which she did first in Maggio Musicale of Firenze in 1986 under the baton of Zubin Mehta). On 3 March she had a sweeping triumph in the concert performance of Elektra in the Carnegie Hall with the Wiener Philharmoniker, under the baton of Lorin Maazel. In May she sang Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder under the baton of Zubin Mehta in Avery Fischer Hall in New York. The concert was recorded by Sony. In June she recorded Puccini’s La fanculla del West under the baton of Leonard Slatkin for RCA in München. In November she recorded Wagner’s Götterdämmerung with Marjana Lipovšek, Siegfried Jerusalem, Theo Adam, Thomas Hampson and John Tomlinson, under the baton of Bernard Haitink for EMI in München.
In 1991 she received numerous awards. In March she got the Bartók-Pásztory Prize in Budapest. She was nominated to the Sir Laurence Olivier Prize in the Covent Garden of London for her extraordinary playing and vocal interpretation of Elektra. She has become a life member of Viener Staatsoper. She got Mario del Monaco Prize in Italy.
In January and February 1992 she sang in David Hockney’s new Turandot-production in the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In March she sang Brünnhilde in the concert production of Ring-tetralogy under the baton of Marek Janowski in Sale Pleyer in Paris. In May she recorded Turandot with Ben Heppner under the baton of Roberto Abbado for RCA in München. In the Salzburg Easter Festival she sang her first Dyer’s Wife in Götz Friedrich’s new productin of R. Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten with Marjana Lipovšek, Cheryl Studer, Robert Hale and Thomas Moser, under the baton of Sir Georg Solti. In Salzburg Summer Festival this production was repeated: that was broadcasted live on television and a film was made from it, too. Except the world premier this was the first complete Die Frau ohne Schatten-production without any cut.
In 1993 she sang Ortrudot in the Teatro del Liceu of Barcelona, Ariadne in Houston Grand Opera and Turandot in Washington. In April she portrayed Judith in Stefan Braunschweig’s new production of Bartók’s The Bluebeard’s Castle with Csaba Airizer, under the baton of Charles Dutoit. In August she sang Brünnhilde in the cross section of Wagner’s Ring under the baton of Adam Fischer in Budapest Congress Center. In September she celebrated the 25th anniversary of her career: she sang her first Gertrudis in Erkel’s Bánk bán in the Hungarian State Opera with András Molnár. The great duet was recorded on videotape by the Hungarian Television. She made a studio recording from the original version of this opera, too. She sung Turandot again in the famous painter, David Hockney’s Turandot production in San Francisco with Michael Sylvester, under the baton of Donald C. Runnicles. The production has been recorded on videotape. In November she sang Brünnhilde in August Everding’s new Die Walküre-production with Siegfried Jerusalem, James Morris and Tina Kiberg, under the baton of Zubin Mehta. For her interpretation she got John W. Seabury Prize in Chicago.
In 1994 she sang Elektra in the Covent Garden of London again with a tremendous success, under the baton of Christian Thielemann. Because the Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona was burnt to ashes, the planned Turandot-production was performed in the olympic Sant Jorsi Stadium in concert form with Giuseppe Giacomini for 16.000 spectators with a tremendous success. In May she sang Ortrud in Lohengrin under the baton of Colin Davis for RCA in München. Her triumph as Turandot continued in Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires. After the fourth performance the seven floors of the house celebrated her in standing ovation (according to the inside ring Pavarotti had such a great success in Rigoletto 10 years before there. Then she sang Turandot in Mexico City and in Sidney in November in a football stadium. She got the “Middle Cross of the Hungarian Republic” in this year.
In 1995 she sang Siegfried’s Brünnhilde in Chicago Lyric Opera with Siegfried Jerusalem, in August Everding’s new production, conducted by Zubin Mehta. She portrayed Turandot in Bayerische Staatsoper of München with a huge success. In Teatro La Fenice of Venice she debuted in Schoenberg’s Erwartung and in the second part of the night she sang Judith in The Bluebeard’s Castle with Csaba Airizer, under the baton of Isaac Karabtchevsky. She returned to the Arena di Verona in Giuliano Montaldo’s new Turandot-production with Katia Riccarelli and Nicola Martinucci, under the baton of Daniel Oren. In the Deutsche Oper of Berlin she sang Brünnhilde in the Ring-cycle under the baton of Jiri Kout, directed by Götz Friedrich. In La Scala she sung Judith in the concert performance of The Bluebeard’s Castle under the baton of Riccardo Chailly, then in another concert performance of The Bluebeard’s Castle in Dresden with the Dresden Philharmonic under the baton of Michel Plasson (a film was made from the latter). Her partner was László Polgár on both of these.
In 1996 she portrayed Götterdämmerung’s Brünnhilde in Chicago Lyric Opera, in August Everding’s new production, conducted by Zubin Mehta. She sang in two complete Ring-cycle there. She sang her first Santuzza in the Hungarian State Opera of Budapest, then she repeated it in the Vienna Staatsoper with Luis Lima and Paolo Gavanelli, under the baton of Marcello Viotti. She performed Turandot and Judith (The Bluebeard’s Castle) in San Paulo, under the baton of Isaac Karabtchevsky. She appeared in the Millennial Gala Concert in honour of Hungary in the Kennedy Center of Washington. She has got a honorary citizenship in the 9th district of Budapest (Franzstadt).
In March of 1997 she sang Elektra in the Kennedy Center of Washington with a tremendous success, under the baton of Heinz Friecke, directed by Elijah Moshinsky. For her life work she got the greatest Hungarian state prize, the Kossuth Prize. In June in Lyon she sang Elektra in an open-air performance, conducted by Kent Nagano. In September she made her Schoenberg-Wagner-CD for Hungaroton. She got “The Prize for Hungary’s Reputation” and the concomitant bell, as the only woman beside 14 men (among them Nobel-winner mathematicians, chemics, physicists and the member of the Golden Team). In October she sang in Judith of The Bluebeard’s Castle in Rio de Janeiro with Csaba Airizer, under the baton of Gábor Ötvös. After a long break she returned to the Metropolitan with Turandot. She sang with a great triumph for the full house. She finished the year with Turandot in the Viener Staatsoper.
In January of 1998 she sang Ortrud in the Hamburgische Staatsoper’s new Lohengrin-production with Inga Nielsen and Thomas Moser, under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher. The plot was set in a school and the singers played students according to Peter Konwitschny’s strike of genius. The initial negative reaction of the small part of the audience was changed the tremendous success of the production. In 1998 it was chosen to “The production of the Year” in Germany. In April she participated in another successful production: she sang Kostelnička in Olivier Tambosi’s new production of Janáček’s Jenůfa with Karita Mattila in the Hamburgische Staatsoper with a tremendous success, conducted by Peter Schneider. In June she portrayed Gioconda in the Deutsche Oper of Berlin, under the baton of Marcello Viotti. In September she sang the Dyer’s Wife in Philippe Arlaud’s new production of the original version of Die Frau ohne Schatten (without any cut again) with Deborah Voigt, Jane Henschel, Thomas Moser and Alan Titus, under the baton of Christian Thielemann. In November she sang in Henning Brockhaus’s new Elektra-production in Teatro Real of Madrid, under the baton of Garcia Navarro. She finished the year in Barcelona: she sang her first Kundry in a concert-production in the Palau de la Música with Robert Dean Smith, Bernd Weikl, Hans Sotin, Nikolai Putilin, under the baton of Antoni Ros-Marbà.
In February, in March and in the beginning of April in 1999 she sang 14 performances in Hamburg: in Lohengrin and in Jenůfa. Then she sang Judith in The Bluebeard’s Castle in the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, then in Amsterdam in the Concertgebouw with Kolos Kováts and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, under the baton of Iván Fischer. In 16 April she sang Judith in a gala-premier in the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw with Mihály Kálmándi, under the baton of Jacek Kaspszyk. She portrayed Turandot in Hamburgban, then Ortrud and the Dyer’s Wife in the Deutsche Oper of Berlin. In September she made her Zemlinsky-, Schoenberg-, Schreker- and Korngold solo CD for Hungaroton. In October she opened the Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona with Núria Espert’s new production of Turandot, under the baton of Bertrand de Billy. In November she sang a succesful Tosca-series in the Metropolitan.
In March and April of 2000 the Lohengrin-production of Hamburg was presented in the Teatro del Liceu of Barcelona with a great success, under the baton of Peter Schneider. Then she sang Jenůfa’s Kostelnička in Hamburg. In the end of May she sang her first Isolde in the revival of Ruth Berghaus’s Tristan und Isolde-production, under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher. After the second performance of the succesful series, because of a stage accident at the ovation she suffered an Achilles tendon rupture. She returns to stage in the end of September as the Dyer’s Wife in the Deutsche Oper of Berlin, under the baton of Christian Thielemann. In November she sang the dyer’s Wife again in Andreas Homoki’s new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten in Barcelona, under the baton of Peter Schneider. In December she sang Brünnhilde in Die Walküre under Adam Fischer in Mannheim.
In February of 2001 she sang Kundry in the Teatro San Carlo of Lisbon, under the baton of Gábor Ötvös. In March she recorded Gertrudis in Erkel’s Bánk bán and sang it in a concert performance in Erkel Theater in Budapest, conducted by Tamás Pál. In April and May she sang Turandot and Ortrud in Hamburg and Ortrud in München. In June she participated in the shooting of the Bánk bán-film with Andrea Rost and Attila Kiss B., directed by Csaba Káel. The cinematographer was the Oscar-winner Vilmos Zsigmond. Her Lohengrin-premier (Ortrud) planned in 12 September was put to 1 October, the series started in 15 October with the planned second performance. The director was Maximilian Schell, the conductor was Kent Nagano.
In April of 2002 she sang Elektra in the Deutsche Oper of Berlin, she sang concerts in Madrid, Valencia. In the Miskolc International Opera Festival she recorded Puccini-songs as novelties and she had a Puccini-concert with Attila Kiss B.. Both of them were conducted by László Kovács. She became the artistic director of Miskolc International Opera Festival. In Italy, in Ravallo Festival she sang in a concert-performance of Gyula Fekete’s chamber oper, Roman Fever. In October she portrayed the Dyer’s Wife in Die Frau ohne Schatten in the Athen Festival. She sang Turandot in festivals of Paphos and Malta, then in Teatr Wielki of Warsaw.
In January of 2003 as a star guest she sang Turandot in Japan in the tour of Teatr Wielki of Warsaw. In February she returned to Tokyo, where she had a concert tour with world-famous colleagues; she sang Sieglinde in the Act 1 of Wagner’s Die Walküre under the baton of Sebastian Weigle. After concerts in Spain she sang Turandot in Hamburg, then in May and June in Madrid she participated in the world premier of Isaac Albeniz’s Merlin as. In June, in the Miskolc International Opera Festival, which is signed by her as artistic director, she sang Judith in The Bluebeard’s Castle with Robert Hale, under the baton of László Kovács. In 30 August she sang Puccini’s Manon Lescaut in a nostalgy gala performance in Frankfurt Opera at the instance of the theater with a great success. In October she portrayed Tosca in Japan in tour of the Prague National Opera. Her 225th Tosca was on 16 October in Hamamatsu. She had very successful Elektra-performances in Hamburg under the baton of Stefan Soltesz. In 20 August she received the “Middle Cross of the Hungarian Republic with the Star”, then in 15 September she became a honorary professor of Franz Liszt Music Academy-University of Budapest.
In March of 2004 Janáček’s Jenůfa was premiered in the Hungarian State Opera in the original Czech language. She sang Kostelnička with Éva Bátori, Attila Kiss B., Graham Sanders / Attila Wendler. The director was Attila Vidnyánszky, the conductor was János Kovács. The production had a tremendous success and an extraordinary positive media-response both in Hungary and internationally. In October the Jenůfa was a great triumph with the same cast, too. In May the great-great granddaughter directed Lohengrin in Erkel Theater of Budapest. There were many disputes about the modern set, but – in any case – the production didn’t impair the Hungarian opera-culture. She sang Ortrud, her partners were Eszter Sümegi, Attila Kiss B. and Béla Perencz, under the baton of Yuri Simonov.
In February and April 2005 she had song recitals and aria-concerts in Spain, then in May she sang Jenůfa’s Kostelnička again in Olivier Tambosi’s production in the Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona with Nina Stemme, under the baton of Peter Schneider. The performance had a tremendous success. A film was made from it, too. Then she participated in Miskolc International Opera Festival as the artistic director. After numerous master classes in Hungary and in the world in the middle of June she had an international master class in the Szeged Festival. She has become the head of the Singing Department in the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. It started a new chapter in her career. On 21 August she had a song- and aria-recital in Balatonfüred in Veszprém Festival, then on 18 September she apperared in a benefit concert for the Music Academy. In November she sang Jenůfa’s Kostelnička in the Hungarian State Opera, then in Dortmund she interpreted Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen in three concerts, under the baton of Arthur Fagen. On 31 December she is also at the Music Academy, she participated in the traditional new year’s concerts.
In 2006 beside teaching she gave a benefit concert for the Music Academy on 5 March, then in the end of April she is the jury’s president of József Simándy Singing Competition in Szeged. In June as the artistic director of Miskolc International Opera Festival, she sang the title role of Giordano’s Fedora with Giuseppe Giacomini in a concert performance in the festival. In June she had a master class in Szeged in the International Music Days of Szeged, then she had a master class in Locarno (Switzerland). On 18 and 20 August she sang Gertrudis in Erkel’s Bánk bán in the Open-Air Festival of Szeged, in the direction of János Szikora, under the baton of Gergely Kesselyák. She portrayed Jenůfa’s Kostelnička in November in the Hungarian State Opera, under the baton of Géza Török and in December in Hamburg, under the baton of György Győriványi Ráth. In this year she made her habilitation in the Franz Liszt Music Academy-University.
In 2007 beside teaching in the spring she was the jury’s president in International Singing Competition in Spoleto. On 25 March to the memory of Béla Bartók she sang Judith in The Bluebeard’s Castle in the Franz Liszt Academy of Music with András Palerdi, under the baton of László Kovács. In June she portrayed Jenůfa’s Kostelnička in Hamburg and she kept his positon as the artistic director of Miskol International Opera Festival. In July she had a master class in Szeged and in August she is a jury member of the International Singing Competition of Saint Petersburg. In the beginning of September she got her promotion as a professor from President Dr. László Sólyom. Then she sang Jenůfa’s Kostelnička in Düsseldorf Opera. She had a mester class in Sanghai in the Chinese Hungarian Days. Because her teaching activity she gave up her position as artistic director in the Miskolc International Opera Festival.
In February and in the beginning of March 2008 she sang Klytamnestra in Elektra – after Chrysothemis and the title role – in seven performances in Teatro del Liceu of Barcelona in seven performances, under the baton of Sebastian Weigle. In the end of March she is a honorary guest of the ceremony for Franco Zeffirelli’s 85th birthday. She got the invitation because she participated in Zeffirelli’s two production in the Metropolitan: in Tosca and Turandot. In the end of April she was the jury’s president the First International Simándy Singing Competition in Szeged. On 9 May she got honorary citizenship in Miskolc. On 31 May she sung in a benefit concert in Ludwigshafen for the invitation of “Hannelore Kohl Foundation”. She had master classes in Szeged in July and in Reichenau in the Summer Academy of Vienna Music Academy in August. She had a song- and aria-recital in Sittges Festival (near Barcelona).
In January 2009 she received Péter Pázmány Pro Cultura Hungariae Prize for her pedagogical work.
On 30 August in Saint Petersburg and on 9 December in the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow she participated in 70th Birthday Galas of Elena Obraztsova with Katia Ricciarelli, Sylvia Sass, Maria Guleghina, Fiorenza Cedolins,Giovanna Casolla, Carmela Remigio, Teresa Bergenza, Peter Dvorský and Roberto Scandiuzzi, under the baton Giuseppe Sabbatini.
In October she received Gold Medal of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona for her excellent performances through decades.
In November she received the honarary doctorate from the University of Szeged.
In July 2010 she received Award ISO d’ORO 2010 for her outstanding career and her activity of the education of the international and the Hungarian new generation of opera singers.
On 12 September she sang the arias of her great roles, Tosca, Gioconda and Isolde in the Slovenské Národné Divadlo in Bratislava for the invitation of Peter Dvorský, under the baton of Rastislav Štúr.
In November she sang Elektra‘s Klytämnestra in a new production of Christof Nel in Genève with Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet, Erika Sunnegårdh and Egils Silins, under the baton of Stefan Soltesz.
In September 2011 she sang Gertudis in the new production of the original version of Erkel’s Bánk bán in her farewell opera performances in the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest (4, 8, 11 September).
On 11 November she sang two Liszt-songs with Andrea Vígh (harp) in the Hungarian State Opera in a benefit Liszt Gala for the organ of Franz Liszt Academy of Music.
The farewell opera performance:
2011: Eva Marton made her farewell opera performances as Gertudis in the new production of the original version of Erkel’s Bánk bán in the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest (4, 8, 11 September) with Ibolya Vígh, János Bándi, Dániel Pataky Potyók, Michele Kálmándi and Béla Perencz, under the baton of Domonkos Héja and Géza Köteles, directed by Csaba Káel.
On 30 May 2012 she received the greatest Hungarian prize, the Corvin Chain. From September she is general advisor of the Hungarian State Opera. On 15 December she became a full member of Hungarian Academy of Arts (MMA).
On 31 January 2013 she was elected as the head of Department of Dramatic Arts of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.
On 16 June the Hungarian State Opera organized a gala concert for her 70th birthday. Eva Marton was saluted by Grace Bumbry and Jonas Kaufmann and she performed “Vissi d’arte” at the end of the concert. Among the pupils Rita Rácz, Szilvia Vörös, Dániel Pataky Potyók and Gyula Orendt participated in the gala concert conducted by Ondrej Lenárd, directed by Csaba Káel. The hosts were Dr. András Batta and Szilveszter Ókovács. The concert was telecasted live by the Hungarian Television. The concert was projected live in front of the St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest.
From September after retiring as the head of the Singing Department in the Franz Liszt Academy of Music she teaches as a professor emerita.
On 9 November she received the “Hazám” (“My Homeland”) Prize.
On 6 December she received Prima Primissima Prize in the Palace of Arts in Budapest.
In December she is the artistic director of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in the Sir Georg Solti Chamber Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music.
Between 15 and 21 September 2014 the I. International Eva Marton Singing Competition is going to be organized in the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and in the Hungarian State Opera. The general patron is the President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr. János Áder.
On November she got the "Artist of the Nation" award.
2016. Magyar Szent István Rend, the highest state prize was received.
In March 2017, the VIII. district, was elected an honorary citizen of Józsefváros.
Between 10 and 16 September 2018, the III. Éva Marton International Singing Competition. In addition to teaching, she holds a number of domestic and foreign master classes and participates in the juries of various singing competitions.
In 2019, he will hold master classes in Szeged, Moscow, Barcelona and Weimar, as well as a member of the jury of the E. Obraztsova singing competition in St. Petersburg.
Based on the success of the three Eva Marton International Singing Competitions so far, she was admitted to the International Music Competitions Association this year.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Art (Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts, KCICA, Washington, USA) honors him with the “Gold Medal in the Arts” for his work.