Csaba Kael

Csaba Káel (born 8 June 1961 in Miskolc) is a Hungarian film director and CEO of Müpa Budapest. He was awarded the Kossuth Prize in 2020 and the Kálmán Nádasdy Prize in 2013.

Career

Káel earned a degree in structural and architectural engineering in 1986 from the Technical University of Budapest's Department of Structural Engineering. In 1989, he graduated from Budapest's College of Theatre and Film Arts, where he studied film and television directing under teachers Károly Makk, István Szabó, Gyula Gazdag, Elemér Ragályi and György Illés.

After serving as a manager at the Balázs Béla Film Studio from 1989 and 1990, he went on to work at Novofilm Kft between 1990 and 1993. In 1990, he took part in the East-West Producers Seminar in London under the tutelage of Lynda Myles and David Puttnam. In 1990, he founded the Happy End Advertising Agency, later becoming its creative director. A member of the Association of Independent Hungarian Producers from 1995 to 1998, he became founder and executive director of Z+ Hungarian Music Television. In 2001 and 2002, he served as artistic advisor for the Millenéris Theatre and Television Studio, where he developed the core concept for that institution. Starting in 2002, he spent two years back at the (by then) University of Theatre and Film Arts working on his DLA before joining Müpa Budapest in 2005 as an artistic advisor responsible for putting together the institution's opera programmes. Following a stint at the Novus School of Art from 2006 to 2007, he has been teaching at the Werk Academy since 2008. He has been the CEO of Müpa Budapest since 17 March 2011, and on 15 August 2013 was appointed chairman of the body that runs both the Budapest Spring Festival and the CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival. Káel has been a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts since 2014

Festivals

His creative works have been screened and performed at events in the following cities and towns: Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Palm Springs, Portland, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. (USA); Palić (Serbia); Jerusalem (Israel); Singapore; Łódź (Poland); Calcutta, Mumbai, Madras, Pune, Trivandrum (India); Istanbul (Turkey); Dhaka (Bangladesh); Barcelona (Spain); Lima (Peru); Tokyo (Japan)

Prosaic and musical theatre works

• 1999 Mozart: Così fan tutte (Budapest Castle District Hilton Hotel, Dominican Court)
• 2000 Haydn: L’infedeltá delusa (Infidelity Outwitted) (Hungarian State Opera)
• 2001 Levente Gyöngyösi: The Stork Caliph (Millenáris Theatre)
• 2001 Pinsuti: Mattea Corvino (Millenáris Theatre)
• 2001 Europe Opera Gala (Hungarian State Opera)
• 2002 Ferenc Erkel: Bánk Bán (Hungarian State Opera)
• 2002 New Year's Opera Gala with Jose Cura (Hungarian State Opera)
• 2003 Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Hungarian State Opera)
• 2005 Monteverdi: L’Orfeo (Müpa Budapest, inaugural performance of the Festival Theatre)
• 2005 Charpentier: Acteon
• 2005 Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (Müpa Budapest, Festival Theatre)
• 2006 Mozart: The Magic Flute (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2006 Verdi: La traviata (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2007 Verdi: Il trovatore (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2007 Rameau: Pygmalion (Miskolc International Opera Festival)
• 2007 Verdi: La Forza di Destino (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2008 Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2008 Mascagni: Cavelleria Rusticana, Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (National Theatre of Győr)
• 2008 Puccini: La bohème (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2008 Puccini: La fanciulla del West (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2008 The Three Tenors – Opera Gala (Miskolc International Opera Festival)
• 2009 Andrea Rost – Opera Gala (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2009 Purcell: The Faerie Queene (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2009 Ferenc Erkel: László Hunyadi (National Theatre of Győr)
• 2010 Marlowe: Dr. Faustus (Budapest Chamber Tivoli Theatre)
• 2010 Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2011 Mozart: The Magic Flute (Iseum Open-Air Festival, Szombathely)
• 2012 Bizet: Carmen (National Theatre of Győr)
• 2012 Handel: Hercules (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2012 Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Royal Opera House, Muscat)
• 2012 Donizetti: Don Pasquale (Veszprém Festival)
• 2012 Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro (Iseum Open-Air Festival, Szombathely)
• 2012 Ramón Vargas Opera Gala (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2012 Tchaikovsky: Onegin (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2013 Ibn Battuta, the Prince of Travellers (Bahrain National Theatre, Manama)
• 2013 Verdi: Attila (Shanghai Grand Theatre, Shanghai; Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2013 Donizetti: Don Pasquale (Opera on Wheels) (Hungarian State Opera)
• 2014 Verdi: La traviata (Iseum Open-Air Festival)
• 2014 Handel: Alexander's Feast (Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, Vilnius; Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2015 Károly Goldmark: Die Königin von Saba (Margaret Island Open-Air Theatre, Hungarian State Opera)
• 2016 Donizetti: Don Pasquale (Erkel Theatre, Budapest)
• 2016 Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle (CAFe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival; Shanghai China International Arts Festival)
• 2016 Rossini: The Barber of Seville (Iseum Open Air Festival, Szombathely; Zemplén Festival, Tokaj; Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2018 Péter Eötvös: Senza sangue / Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2018 Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle (Lithuanian National Opera, Vilnius)
• 2018 Franz Lehár: Das Land des Lächelns (Shanghai Opera House; Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2019 Puccini: Le Villi; Crisantemi (Müpa Budapest, Béla Bartók National Concert Hall)
• 2019 Jenő Kenessey: The Gold and the Woman; István Örkény – Tóth Péter: The Tót Family (Hungarian State Opera, Eiffel Art Studios)

Work as an opera director

Káel has worked with such artists as José Cura, Leo Nucci, Éva Marton, Ruggerio Raimondi, Renato Bruson, Erika Miklósa, Andrea Rost, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Joseph Calleja, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Ildiko Komlósi, Michaela Kaune, Elena Mosuc, Roberto Saccà, Marcello Giordani, Kurt Rydl, Ramón Vargas, Yevgeny Nesterenko, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Deborah Voigt, Christoph Eschenbach, Ferruccio Furlanetto. He has staged several pre-classical operas in productions by the Purcell Chorus and Orfeo Orchestra conducted by György Vashegyi, including Monteverdi's L’Orfeo, the inaugural performance at Müpa Budapest's Festival Theatre.

Events and other works

• 1992, 1993, 1994 Postabank Tennis Gala, Budapest Sports Arena (principal director)
• 1999 Ceremony marking the transfer of the Holy Crown of Saint Stephen to the parliament building (principal director)
• 1999, 2000, 2001 Remembrance Day, November 4., Saint Stephen's Basilica (director)
• 2000 Millennial Fireworks (concept, principal director)
• 2000 Inauguration ceremony for the president of the Republic of Hungary (principal director)
• 2000 Show ringing in the new millennium, Budapest (director)
• 2000 The Hungarian Millennium at the Olympics – Cultural Festival in Sydney
• 2001 IAAF World Youth Championships, opening gala, Debrecen (director)
• 2001 An Evening of Hungarian Culture, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.
• 2005 Mozart Fashion Show, Müpa Budapest, Budapest
• 2007 Sziráczky Fashion Show, Millenáris, Budapest
• 2008 BlackRock Tennis Classics, László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest
• 2009-2010 Tennis Classics, László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest
• 2009 Event celebrating the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Franciscan Order, Müpa Budapest (director)
• 2009 Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Miskolc International Opera Festival, Ice Arena
• 2010 Concert by the organist of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, Müpa Budapest (director)
• 2010 European Capital of Culture, Pécs 2010, opening ceremony, Pécs (director)
• 2016 Concert of Plácido Domingo, László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, Budapest (director)
• 2016 Polish–Hungarian Cultural Season, opening ceremony, Teatr Polski, Warsaw (director)
• 2017 17th FINA World Championships, opening and closing ceremony, Budapest (director) / Bea World 2017 – Best Events Award: Live Entertainment 1st Prize, Opening/Celebration 2nd Prize

Awards

• Award for Music Video of the Year – Bonanza Banzai (1991)
• Golden Frog Award – Camerimage Film Festival, Łódź (2003)
• Béla Bartók Memorial Prize (2008)
• Award for Hungarian Arts (2011)
• Tony Curtis Award (2011)
• Pro-Turizmo Award (2012)
• Kálmán Nádasdy Award (2013)
• Meritorious Artist of Hungary (2017)
• Culture and Tourism Ambassador of Budapest (2018)
• Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic (civil division) (2018)
• Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (2018)
• Kossuth Prize (2020)