Bartók Béla, ifj.: Chronicles of Béla Bartók's Life (Budapest, 2021)
Great Concert Tours on Two Continents (1922–1931)
1928 CHRONICLES OF BÉLA BARTOK'S LIFE things [Piano Concerto No. 1]. We already had the rehearsal - they have learned it quite carefully...” 13 December - Performance of Piano Concerto No. 1 in Erfurt with the reinforced town orchestra, conducted by the not yet 30-year-old Franz Jung. “The performance was much better than with the famous Amsterdam orchestra” - he writes. 15 December - In the morning he arrives back in Budapest. - Letter to ITHMA. 18 December - He writes Edward Clark about programme plans for March. 20 December - He writes his mother and aunt a long account of his concerts and their revenue. His fees were 570 pengős in Sopron, 900 pengős at the Bechstein concert, 900 German marks at the Erfurt one, he was satisfied with these. The gramophone records of the folk music recordings are ready, he gets about 350 pengős for these as participant and composer. His son Béla is still receiving the annual scholarship of 800 pengős from the university. 22 December - He writes Universal Edition regarding the January premiere of Mandarin Suite in Paris. 24 December - He spends Christmas Eve in the circle of his family in Budapest. 25 December - In a postscript of his wife’s Christmas account he writes his mother that he has got his Russian visa, train ticket, and has obtained winter clothing for the trip in the Soviet Union. 26 December - Letter to Universal Edition. 27 December - He reaches an agreement with the Rózsavölgyi and Co. firm about the transfer of the mechanical and gramophone rights; the contract was supplemented on 14 May 1931, then dissolved on 1 July 1936. 28 December - Radio concert in Budapest. The programme consists of one piece by each of the composers Farnaby, Couperin, Rameau, Rossi, Durante, Loeillet, Daquin, Martini, Antonio Soler, and Robson. 288
