This is what Szilveszter Ókovács said, re-elected general director of the Hungarian State Opera ATV Straight Talk On his show he did not speak with Viktor Orbán and János Csák, nor did he contact the members of the bid evaluation committee. Skovac announced that he would run the Opera House despite the sacking of his former rival, Jergely Kiseljak.
According to Škovac, Janos Šak, who decides his appointment and his incoming requests, has been away from him for half a year, because he also ran for the position of general manager.
There was no communication at all between us
Szilveszter Ókovács said on the programme. According to the general director, Janos Csak could have sought the opinions of many people when he decided to choose the new director of the opera house. “Obviously the ministry’s professional committee formed an opinion, but none of its members had led an opera or such a large institution,” added Skovacz, who first applied for the position in 2001.
Skovac also spoke about the fact that Jergely Kiseljak was the first conductor for seven and a half years, making him the longest serving conductor in the past 50 years. According to Škovakács, it was already clear from his request, and he also said at the committee hearing that he wanted to appoint a new first captain, and that is now in effect.
Kiselak will remain in his position, told him today that he is interested in the possibilities, they will agree and they can sign a five-year contract with him
– said the general director of the opera house, adding that the opera directed by Kiseliak will also be presented next season, and although he is not a graduated composer, his opera entitled Hazatérés is scheduled for the following years.
Someone showed me a similar opera conductor in the palm of their hand this way
Szilveszter Ókovács said.
According to the commission, Gergely Kisilyak is the most suitable
In the index, we followed the struggle for the title of general manager of the opera house in detail from the beginning. An official document was also sent to our newspaper, on the basis of which everything we wrote about the application for the position of general manager of the opera house was proved correct.
The professional commission found Gergely Kiseljak, who had been fired from the opera house in the meantime, to be the most suitable candidate for the post of general director, with a unanimous vote – including those of the ministry’s leaders.
Erika Mikluza received the second most votes, while the recently reappointed Szilveszter Ókovács was only two votes behind. In other words, the committee did not consider him at all suitable for moving the opera house forward.
Multiple non-disclosure agreements were signed with members of the professional committee that evaluated the bids, and Minister of Culture and Innovation Janusz Csak disclosed most of what was reported in the press regarding the committee’s vote. Call it speculationand Szilveszter Ókovács I classified it as speculation What we wrote: “Just because a newspaper has written something, I’m in no hurry to take it as fact,” he said.
But now it turns out that whatever the index wrote was correct. Although the website of the Ministry of Cultural Innovation (KIM) still contains only a brief announcement about the appointment of Szilveszter Ókovács, an official document from one of Janos Csak’s colleagues has reached the index on the ministerial paper, in which the justification of the decision of the head of the ministry and a summary of the opinion of the professional commission for each application. Thus, the Ministry fulfilled its legal obligation.
(Cover photo: Szilveszter Ókovács on January 25, 2022. Photo: Péter Papajcsik/Index)
