Péter Halász is Principal Guest Conductor of the Hungarian State Opera. Renowned for his interpretations of the German and Italian repertoire, he has built an international career encompassing both opera and the concert platform.
Recent seasons have brought a series of notable successes at the Hungarian State Opera, including the company’s first-ever production of Dvořák’s Rusalka, the Hungarian premiere of Puccini’s Turandot with Luciano Berio’s completion of the finale, and the critically acclaimed new production of Beethoven’s Fidelio, directed by Tobias Kratzer. During the 2026/27 season, he conducts the centenary production of Kodály’s Háry János, alongside performances of Wagner’s Parsifal, Verdi’s Aida and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. The season also marks his first performances of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and The Miraculous Mandarin.
In summer 2026, Halász conducted Verdi’s Il trovatore at Budapest’s Margaret Island Open-Air Stage with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and an international cast featuring Elena Stikhina, Judit Kutasi, Yusif Eyvazov and Bogdan Baciu. His recent symphonic engagements also include Stravinsky’s The Firebird with the Dohnányi Orchestra and Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra with the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra.
From 2021 to 2024, Halász served as First Kapellmeister at Deutsche Oper am Rhein, where he remains a regular guest conductor. His work there included acclaimed new productions of Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans and Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, alongside performances of Tosca, Madama Butterfly, La traviata, Die Zauberflöte, L’elisir d’amore, Hänsel und Gretel and Die Fledermaus. He returns to the company in the 2026/27 season for performances of Die Zauberflöte and La traviata.
Born in Budapest, Halász studied piano before continuing his musical education in composition at the Bartók Conservatory. He later studied conducting with Leopold Hager at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Masterclasses with Bernard Haitink in Lucerne and his work as assistant to Ádám Fischer were decisive influences on his artistic development.
He began his professional career at the International Opera Studio of Opernhaus Zürich before joining Staatstheater Mainz as répétiteur and conductor. From 2011 to 2013 he served as Principal Conductor and Deputy General Music Director at Theater Aachen, where he led numerous new productions and initiated a Handel opera cycle on period instruments.
As Music Director of the Hungarian State Opera from 2013 to 2016, Halász conducted a series of landmark productions, including Verdi’s Falstaff, Hungary’s first-ever staging of Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten, Mozart’s Così fan tutte in collaboration with Academy Award-winning director Jiří Menzel, the launch of a new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle, and the Eastern European premiere of Thomas Adès’ The Tempest.
Halász made his debut at the Hungarian State Opera in 2010 with Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia at the invitation of Ádám Fischer. Since then, he has conducted more than thirty operas in over 250 performances with the company. He has collaborated with many of today’s leading singers, including Plácido Domingo, Angela Gheorghiu, Piotr Beczała, Aigul Akhmetshina, Freddie De Tommaso and Yusif Eyvazov.
His guest engagements have also taken him to Staatsoper Hamburg, Theater Bern, the Latvian National Opera, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and numerous German opera houses and orchestras. In 2024, he conducted the 20th Anniversary Gala of the Georg Solti Accademia at the Hungarian State Opera, streamed worldwide on Deutsche Grammophon’s Stage+ platform.
Alongside his operatic career, Halász appears regularly with Hungary’s leading symphony orchestras, including the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he made his debut in 2016 at the invitation of Zoltán Kocsis. He has also served as Guest Professor at the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation and as Visiting Professor at the Liszt Academy.
In 2025, Halász was awarded the Zavodszky Prize for his interpretations of Wagner’s Parsifal and Die Walküre, Hungary’s highest distinction for Wagner interpretation. He was previously awarded the Golden Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit in 2017.