Jelentések A mosoly birodalmáról
Reports about The Empire of Smile

Summary/Abstract: Until the change of regime, an active network of spies was operating in Hungary, which kept the members of cultural life under surveillance as well. Works that did not fit the expectations of official state socialism were forced into the so-called second public sphere, as was The Empire of Smile, an opera by László Melis (composer) and András Jeles (director, libretto), premiered in 1986 by Monteverdi Birkózókör and Group 180. My main goal is to discover the cultural context of the creative process and to unfold the two creators’ social network, including their creative relationship. In this study, I am presenting files linked to László Melis and András Jeles from the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security.

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