Hungarian opera singers declaring themselves African-American

This is how Anikó Bakonyi, playing Serena in the Hungarian State Opera’s rendition of Porgy and Bess, explained why she signed the document that the Opera’s director Szilveszter Ókovács had sent to every singer. As per the request of heirs of Gershwin’s catalogue, only Afro-American singers are allowed to perform the piece, and maybe this was due to a mistake, but the fact is that the Hungarian Opera was offered a contract last year that did not have the famous “all-black cast” clause, which they ended up going for. After this year’s first performance, Ókovács stated that 15 out of 28 performers signed the following document:

“I, the undersigned, state that Afro-American origin and consciousness are integral parts of my identity.

Source: index.hu