Hungarians

 

Can there be a more musical nation than the Hungarians? More great conductors, soloists, singers and others seem to have come from Hungary per capita than any other country. Apart from the obvious Richter, Nikitsch, Szell, Reiner, Ormandy, Fricsay, Dorati, Solti, Kertesz, Fischer Ivan among the great conductors, there were pianists Anda, Cziffra, Fischer Annie, Schiff and violinists Joachim, Auer, Szigeti, Hubay, d'Aranyi, Vegh and many others.

Composers include Kalman, von Dohnanyi, Lehar, Bartok, Kodaly, Ligeti, Kurtag. Singers Barabas, Hamari, Laszlo Marta, Marton, Rosa Pauly, Sass, Varady, Kelemen, Konya Sandor, von Pataky, Polgar, Simandy, Sved, Szekely etc.

The famous Liszt Academy played an enormous part in producing these great talents. Leo Weiner in particular was key in the education of many of these great names. Liszt himself paid for the building of the Academy.

There is also a number of 'hidden' Hungarians in the music world. Carl Flesch was originally Flesch Karoly, Louis Kentner (Lajos Kentner), Karl Goldmark, Rosa Pauly, Friedrich Schorr. Georges Sebastian and others.

I have had mant contacts with Hungarian musical life over the years. They have been full of highs and lows. First of all the Hungarian State Opera. It seems to be the repository of all the Hungarian artists who couldn't make it abroad. All performances had to be in Hungarian which put paid to foreign guest artists at a stroke. Productions were abysmal in the main. There must have been exceptions such as the nights Klemperer was on the rostrum (you can hear his great Budapest 'Lohengrin' as an example), those conducted by Sergio Failoni no doubt. He was a protege of Toscanini and was worshipped in Budapest for many years. and Lamberto Gardelli who replaced him in a way. I attended a performance of 'Don Carlo' at the Erkel Theatre with Boris Christoff as Filippo II, That drew the company out of its lethargy.  Then Yuri Simonov who conducted all of Wagner's major works there over a number of years, one in a production by Katharina Wagner.

Symphonic concerts were better altough again, there were miseres as well as the splendeurs.'  Most of the latter were given by the Budapest Festival Orchestra who were formed from the best players of the many different orchestras in Budapest. The other orchestras were capable of rising to the occasion though under Simonov or Rozhdestvensky for instance. 

Rozhdestvensky conducted quite a bit in Budapest toward the end of his career. He didn't always understand the Hungarian mentality however. At the end of one rehearsal he asked me what is wrong with the orchestra? They look so sad. I replied that all Hungarians were either manic or depressive, That seemed to satisfy his enquiry.