The paper investigates the genesis as well as the performance history of Ferenc Erkel’s first opera. Bátori Mária, the first Hungarian tragic national opera was premiered on 8 August 1840 at the Hungarian Theatre in Pest. In it, Erkel adapted the model of Italo-French romantic opera. Further representations of Bátori Mária spanned over the following two decades. Based on contemporary critical reviews, the author offers a reconstruction of the performances, traces the soloists’ artistic carreer, and highlights the difficult process of professionalization of Hungarian opera playing.