This production of the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble and the Honvéd Male Choir recounts the strange story of a woman punished with death for infidelity, one of the most mysterious old Hungarian ballads, a tale of cruel beauty and tragedy that represents some of the most profound human emotions. “In our story,” said Zsuzsa Zs. Vince, “the woman cannot forget her old love, despite the marriage, the comfortable life her husband ensures, the child. When the man returns years later, the love flares up for a few moments, but they cannot consume it because the jealous husband arrives. He feels cheated and takes cruel revenge on his wife.” The subject, the situation seems perennial: the flare of irresistible, overwhelming love, burning passion, infidelity and jealousy – the eternal conflict of the relationship between a man and a woman is now told primarily in the language of dance.

The performance incorporates two choral works by Zoltán Kodály.

The premiere was presented by Müpa Budapest as a joint event with the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble as part of the Bartók Spring.