About the work
Opera by Ferenc Erkel to a libretto by Béni Egressy, based on Lőrinc Tóth's prize-winning drama 'Két László' (1839), composed between 1841 and 1843. It premiered on 27 January 1844 at the National Theatre in Pest and is regarded as the birth of Hungarian national opera.
Plot
After the victory over the Ottomans at Belgrade, the young general László Hunyadi falls victim to a court intrigue involving King Ladislaus and his guardian Ulrich of Celje: despite a sworn pardon he is sentenced to death and executed, mourned by his betrothed Mária.
Cultural significance
Combining Hungarian verbunkos music with the means of romantic opera, the work struck a chord with the awakening Hungarian national consciousness in 1844 and became an immediate success; the opera's Hunyadi March spread nationwide through military bands.