Magyar Hírek, 1983 (36. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1983-10-15 / 21. szám
CHRONICLE WHO CAN DO WHAT? - 83 Simon Bolivar monument and historical exhibition in Budapest The Hungarian capital unveiled a monument to commemorate the Latin- American champion of freedom on the occasion of the bicentennary of Simon Bolivar’s birth. The monument graces a park in the 21st district of Budapest, named after him. Lajos Kelemen, Deputy Chairman of the city council, and the Ambassador of the Republicof Columbia, Daniel CarlosRoca spoke at the unveiling ceremony. An exhibition of historical documents related to the major themes of the life and work of Bolivar was also opened in Budapest on this occasion. The opening address was given by the deputy president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Zsigmond Pál Pach. He mentioned that the committee formed in Hungary to commemorate Simon Bolivar is devoting a series of events to his memory and it is hoped that these will also ftirther the cause of cultural relations between Hungary and the Latin American countries. Hungarian horse-herds in'London A team of Hungarian horse-herds paid a two weeks’ visit to London at the invitation of the Horse Guards. The horse-herds demonstrated their skills as guests at the Royal Tournament, which has been arranged yearly since 1880. Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh attended the performance. Hungarian intellectual products abroad. Hungary is exporting intellectual products, mainly design documentation, technical advisory services, and also a fair amount of licences, patents, research achievements to 55 countries. The value of the exports of such products amounts to around a thousand million forints annually. The importance of intellectual exports is increased by the fact that the value of the related other exports is much greater than that since Hungarian major contracts abroad relate in numerous instances to the exported scientific and research results. The range of intellectual products exported is rather varied. Thus Transelektro are designing a complete system of transmission lines for Iraq, Tesco provided building plans for Algeria, and now participate in the design of a power station in the Federal Republic of Germany. As a result of keen competition, the marketing of licenses and patents became more difficult, but outstandingly novel, economical technical solutions still find a market. Novex signed an agreement to test a new water-cleaning plant in West Germany, and negotiations are also proceeding in Austria regarding the introduction of the same system. Cooperation with the foreign trading partners during the development phase is a specific form of the marketing of licences. Novex undertook the development and introduction of an absorbent surgical implant , established the manufacturing basis of the initial material, completed the series of clinical tests, and subsequently worked out the large-scale production technology in conjunction with Ethicon Ltd. of Great Britain. Hungarian scientists explore mountain districts in Tanzania. Two biologists of the Vácrátót botanical research institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences are preparing plans for the protection of the natural values of the Tanzanian Usambara mountains. The Hungarian scientists were invited to undertake the job by the government of Tanzania and the Royal Academy of Sweden. They will prepare, with the cooperation of Tanzanians, a map of the flora and fauna of the mountains and a catalogue of locations and species. The flora and fauna of the Usambara mountains has become endangered in the last quartercentury, mainly owing to accelerated soil erosion in areas where the forests have been cleared. A team of West German scientists are also at work in the Usambara mountains working out ecological met hods of agriculture. The research programme is expected to take some ten years to complete. “I was in Berlin after the semi-finals” — counts the leader of the Szélkiáltó (Criers in the wind) group, one of the winners of the Who can do what? talent-spotting competition organized for the seventh time recently by Hungarian Television. “Someone began to whistle a familiar tune behind me, one of our compositions we performed at the Who can do what?. I turned around.” “Don’t be cross”, began the guilty party, “but I recognized you, and could not let the chance pass.” Appearing on the box means tremendous publicity in Hungary as elsewhere. The best performers receive invitations from every part of the country: the Who can do what? programme is a fantastic platform to take off from. More than ten thousand numbers were nominated to take part in the series of competitions this year, an alltime record in the history of Who can do what? Six preliminary rounds and two semi-finals preceded the grand final, all of them transmitted direct. As many as 51,000 viewers cast a vote after the last semi-final. “The streets were quite deserted during the programmes, taxi-driversclaimed there was hardly any business said János Gálvölgyi, the actor, who compered the show. He had been one of the discoveries of an earlier Who can do what series. Perhaps the greatest surprise of the show this time was the progress made by the teenagers. Nobody over twenty reached the finals in the categories of classical music, dance music, Dixieland jazz and jazz-ballet. The youngest of the finalists, the pianist Csilla Rácz is only ten. The venue of the programme was the new Leisure Centre in Almássy-tér. I interviewed two instrumental soloists, the 17 year old Laura Csík, and the 15 year old Péter Somogyi, perhaps the two most sensational musicians of the Who can do what? on the roof terrace during the intervals between the rehearsals and the finals. “How did you begin to make music?” “I was practically born into it,” — Laura said. Both my parents are pianist: my mother is a repetiteur at the College of Drama, and my father, Gusztáv Csík is a jazz pianist. “My parents have no connections with music at all,” chimed in Péter. “My mother is a teacher, and my father is a technical controller. I was seven, when one of my teachers put a violin in my~hands. That’s how it all started.” ‘‘Besides all the studying and practicing do you have any time lejt for fun?” “Very little,” they both said. “I read, and go to concerts” Laura added. “My example Is the pianist, Zoltán Kocsis.” “My hobby is fishing” Peter answered. ‘‘What are your present plans?” “Both of us passed the entrance examinations to the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music recently, and were permitted to enter before reaching the minimum age.” A few hours after this conversation, the seven judges gave maximum points to their respective performances in the finals. “We have taken part in an extraordinary experience.” joyfully commented Emil Petrovics, the composer. “We have witnessed the start of exceptionally great talents.” A treble dead-heat was the result of the finals of the folk-dancing competition. Béla Balogh presented Gypsy dances from County Szatmár, while the refined lyricism of the Bulgarian dances of the Martenica group gripped the audience, and the Erika Fehér — Zoltán Balia duo danced with youthful vigour dances learnt from old people of Sárköz. “We have both been dancing since childhood”, Zoltán Balia told me in the dressing room. “Our favourite is the Moldavian-Hungarian dance of Gyimes we performed in the preliminaries. We have travelled through the romantic Gyimes Pass that connects Szekely-land with Moldavia and learned much from old people there.” The winner of the Dixieland jazz competition, the Stadium band, were honoured with an invitation from the leader of the Benkó Dixieland Band, Sándor Benkó, who has just returned from a successful tour in the United States. He asked them to perform in joint concert. “Can you remember what was in your mind years ago, when you took part in the Who can do what? not as a judge but as a competitor?” — I asked Benkó. “We were awfully nervous” — recalled Sándor Benkó. These days I look on Who can do what as a big game which gives an opportunity to the kids to show their talents to the whole country. It should not be taken as deadly serously as I did in my time, because then the true flavour and joy of the game may get lost.” It took quite a few minutes to eventually spot Tamás Ghyczy, a magician, in a make-up room, which was reminiscent of a disturbed beehive. “I live at Makó, where I work as a teacher of retarded children. I show my tricks also to my pupils: they are my most grateful audience. I learnt my tricks, mainly by watching the American magician series on television : I have hardly ever seen a conjuring trick in the flesh. Who can do what is a marvellous chance for publicity. I already have been personally approached by a number of magicians, and have received several invitations.” It was well after midnight, when the closing words of the chairman of the judges, Tamás Major brought a great competition to an end. The winners reward is a trip, and a television appearance in Cuba. Next morning I was waiting for a train at the Southern Railway Station. Unexpectedly, I spotted one of the winners of Who can do what?. “Going home?” — I asked. “Certainly not! I am off to camp at Lake Balaton. We are already in full training for our appearance in Cuba...” ÁDÁM BALÁZS 29
