Magyar Hírek, 1985 (38. évfolyam, 2-26. szám)
1985-02-16 / 4. szám
í Puppet-show — for children and adults CHRONICLE The applause of the Swiss audience ensured fourteen curtain calls for the Hungarian State Puppet Theatre after the performance of “Nutcracker”. Why was it so much enjoyed, just like most of the productions of Hungarian puppeteers? Perhaps because of the wealth of spectacle, message, and emotions. They do not allow the imagination to fall asleep even for a moment. Children are absolutely convinced hat the objects around them live, .hat they are happy or sad just as they are. Objects really come to life in Nutcracker, they express their own substance by their motions. The year 1984 was particularly successful. News of warm receptions in London, Vienna and Geneva arrived in quick succession. “Spring and early summer meant many performances abroad for our company. We had more invitations than we could accept,” said the manager, Dr. Tibor Szilágyi. We were in London at Easter, where an international puppetry festival was held for the second Jme. In ten days we gave fifteen performances at Sadler’s Wells. Usually six to seven hundred people saw them and 1,400 tickets were sold for one of our children’s shows. Our programme included the puppet version of Bartók’s Miraculous Mandarin, Stravinsky’s Fire-bird György Ligeti’s musical grotesque, Aventures and Prokofiev's graceful and humorous Classical Symphony." “An invitation for 25th May to the Vienna Festival was also accepted. There we performed Samuel Beckett’s Scene without words.” “At the same time an other group of the company went to Geneva on an invitation by Marionettes de Geneve to celebrate the opening of the new puppet theatre built by that city. We gave eleven performances, including Petőfi’s János vitéz, which many other countries had seen, all the way from India to Cuba.” “And now you are getting ready for the West Berlin show. I assume you are frequently asked to what you owe your popularity abroad and what makes the State Puppet Theatre specifically Hungarian.” “Recently one of our Finnish friends talked precisely about this, that while they recognized their Kalevala, it was a characteristically Hungarian interpretation even though we had no intention to Hungaricize the work either in pictorial or in tonal presentation. The general opinion is that our productions are typical of the Hungarian spirit: something always happens, even in the lyric scenes, the action is more dynamic. We strive to express dramatic situations first of all by the spectacle, and not the words. The consequence of this is that our performance is much closer now to the musical pantomime, than to the classical theatre. The text plays only a supporting role to the spectacle.” “We shape theatrical characters out of all sorts of objects, we animate life-less objects and bring them to life by magic. They are just as much organic parts of the play as the puppets. We consciously strive to present many genres. Ours is no longer expressly and exclusively an epic theatre.” “More and more posters appear in the streets addressed not only to children but also to adults. There are few puppet theatres in Europe that cater also to adult audiences." “Our Monday night performances are principally for adult audiences. Kalevala, for instance or Midsummer Night's Dream. As part of our work of haute vulgarisation we adapt the great original myths. This has lead to the presentation of the Odyssey and Kalevala. We plan the production of the Indian Ramajana and a stage adaptation of the Book of Kings, from the Old Testament, as well as a presentation of the Arthurian sagas.” “We started in the early sixties and have presented some one hundred and forty shows by now, of which about 40 are in our repertoire. The best of these ane repeatedly revived. In addition to the 4-5 revivals, we still have enough energy for two new productions a year.” EMŐKE NAGY A Hungarian “Who is who” in Science and Technology is under preparation A new “Who is who” is being compiled in Hungary covering scientists and engineers of Hungarian origin who live abroad. The international scientific convention to be held in 1986 at the Budapest University of Technology under the patronage of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Federation of Technical and Natural Science Associations, and the World Federation of Hungarians, to which natural scientists and engineers of Hungarian origin who live abroad will be invited, makes the publication of the volume timely. The participants will give an account of the situation and developments in their own fields. The idea of assisting interested people in getting their bearing, in establishing contacts, by this “Who is who”, which would contain personal data, as well as listing the work of noted Hungarian engineers and natural scientists who live in Hungary or abroad emerged during the organization of this big international event. Dr. György Osztrovszki, an Academician, is the chairman of the editorial committee of the new “Who is who”. The committee sent a circular to institutions, laboratories and companies requesting data about those research workers and engineers who should figure in the volume. We should also like to focus the attention of our readers on this publication, the editorial committee of which would welcome suggestions. Healing with a magnetic field The Híradástechnikai Anyagok Gyára (Factory for Telecommunication Materials) of Vác was authorized by the relevant Hungarian health authorities to market a new magnetotherapeutic instrument, the “Pulsatron F—20A”. The instrument generates a low frequency, rhythmically alternating magnetic field, that can be beneficially used for the treatment of ulcerated shins, thromboses, arteriosclerosis, tennis elbow, fractures, osteoporities and various kinds of arthritis. The lines of magnetic force generated by the instrument penetrate the cells, where they exert a dual effect. On the one hand they promote the ionization of minerals in cells and tissues, and on the other they improve the oxygen utilization of cells and tissues. Operation of the instrument is very simple, thus it can be employed not only in hospitals and clinics, but also in doctors’ surgeries. Hungarian—French cooperation in computer technology SG 2 — MKB Pénzügyi Informatikai Kft., a French—Hungarian joint enterprise established a year ago has been operating successfully on the Hungarian market. Negotiations have started with bankers of other countries on selling their computer services. The enterprise was established by the Hungarian Foreign Trading Bank and Société Générale de Service e Gestion (SG 2) of Paris. The founders specified that the purpose of business was organization of financial information systems and relevant consulting services as well as working out and marketing programmes for their utilization. The French—Hungarian enterprise is currently engaged in the organization of the modernization of accounting in 260 cooperative savings banks. Hungarian made personal computers are used in building the system, and the information system of processing organized on the basis of French experience. The enterprise began negotiations with representatives of the Polish and Czechoslovakian National Banks about marketing computer software and logical systems. A similar cooperation with the Bank of International Economic Cooperation of Moscow is also under preparation. New Hungarian Stamps The Hungarian Post will issue many new, beautiful stamps in 1985. The 300 years old Bible composed by Miklós Tótfalusi, Danube bridges from Regensburg to Novi Sad, the Mezőhegyes stud, and the Feszt.v cyclorama to be housed at Ópusztaszer are amongst the subjects. Discovery of a hitherto unknown Kossuth letter The archives of the Kossuth Museum of Cegléd now inciude a hitherto unknown letter. It was written by Lajos Kossuth to Károly Földváry, one of the commanders of the Hungarian Legion that was set up in exile after the 1848/49 war. It is dated on the 22nd February 1864, and confirms the granting of the Memorial Medal, established by Kossuth, to Captains Spegazzini and Staindl. When the last of the Földváry's died, the letter was left to Béla Németh, a military engineer of Cegléd, who left it to his sons. László Németh, a member of the Németh family, went to the United States after the Second World War, while his eldest son, László junior stayed in Hungary, and still lives in Budapest. As he wrote to the director of the Kossuth Museum: members of the family living in Hungary and in the USA heard of one-another after 40 years of losing contact apart, and the brothers agreed in the course of a visit of his to America to offer the Kossuth letter, which had been in America until then, to the Cegléd Museum. That was how the valuable document arrived in Hungary after a long, adventurous journey. Farewell to Amerigo Tot (From a letter by Zsuzsa Krúdy, daughter of Gyula Krúdy the writer) My good luck took me to Rome during the sixties. I was encouraged by someone here, at home, to visit Amerigo Tot if I could menage it. I took the advice and rang him. He answered the phone in Italian, in a deep, husky and not too friendly voice. I introduced myself, a little abashed, and after a pause he invited me to call on him that afternoon. The soldier's tale 30 \
