Magyar Hírek, 1985 (38. évfolyam, 2-26. szám)
1985-11-23 / 24. szám
descend on their sleighs when there is snow winter. They chose stars of the domestic pop world to play the leading parts, and a dancing group of several hundred directed by Ferenc Novak was also given a worthy role. The rock-opera was performed for the first time on the 20th of August 1983, the Day of Saint Stephen. It was a tremenduous success. Seven performances had to be given. The two-disc album of the music of the rock-opera sold several hundred thousand copies in a two weeks. The film was a modest flop, while the rockopera itself went from success to success. It was also performed at the Szeged Festival. Then, this year, it became part of the repertory of The National. History and the play It would be unfair to demand historical accuracy from the Boldizsár—Szörényi—Brody trio, and yet the conflicts of the play point well past the age of Stephen. Strictly speaking, the action of the play spans three years of history: the period between the death of Prince Géza, Stephen’s father, and the coronation of Stephen. That was the time when — with the help of the troops of his fatherin-law, Henry the II., Duke of Bavaria, — Vajk- Stephan defeated the rebellion of Koppány, son of the Somogy clan chieftain, Tar-Zerind. Standing on the grounds of the old traditions of inheritance — the levirate —, Koppány claimed the widow of Géza, and with her the status of Ruling Prince. In the adaptation of the rock-opera, this rebellion grew beyond a tribal quarrel. The conflict is a double one. On the one hand Stephen, wants to introduce Christianity and the modern feudalcentral state organization in Hxingary. He is opposed by the conservative hawk, the heathen Koppány. The latter organizes a popular uprising in the name of the Magyars, against Stephen, a propagator of alien ideologies and lord of foreign mercenaries. Thus the struggle becomes a—not particularly important —scene of the clash between the rising Holy-Roman Empire and declining Byzantium. The possibility of compromise arises for a moment in the struggle. Both Stephen and Koppány recognize that the country needs peace, but then Torda, the extremist shaman steps onto the scene with the following prophecy: “Koppány, if you defeat Stephen /the heroes will not be swept away/ The people will be powerful / The name of your descendants will be feared from Rome to Byzantium / from the Rhine to Levedia / We shall be victorious at Mohács / György Dózsa will be our king / A great power for centuries / Rákóczi will conquer the world / and the Danubian Republic / will come true with Kossuth” The debate Stephen the King stirred a great storm. Some questioned the idea of the national anthem performed to the accompaniment of fireworks and Bengal lights, with national tricolour ribbons at the end of the play. Who is the anthem addressed to many asked. For a good two-thirds of the play Koppány was the clearly popular figure. This was reinforced by the robust personality of Gyula Vikidál in the role of Koppány as well as the hard-rock style, of his music. Stephen, incapable of action, a rather Hamletian character, does not seem to be a stateorganizing opponent. And then, after the victory of the German armies, the opera burst into the Hungarian national anthem—and ten thousand young people rose to their feet with tears in their eyes. God, bless the Hungarian... The time of “God, bless the Hungarian . . .” was played in the National Theatre as well. But the direction of Imre Kerényi left no doubt that what was coming now were not moments of enthusiastic satisfaction and celebration. In the National Theatre version Koppány and Stephen are good friends—early in the piece. The old lord teaches the child Vajk the art of ruling and decision-making. Ominous events disturb the election of Stephen as Ruling Prince, and his coronation: the body of the hung Labore swings over the heads of the celebrating people. Soldiers take the remains of the tortured and silenced chronicler from the coronation scene and finally, — at the end of the play—Stephen King, of all Hungarians, remains alone, faced with his childhood self. Vajk, the small child is wrapped in a shroud. To the tune of the anthem Stephen takes off his crown and cloak, puts down his sceptre — and presents the child fallen into perpetual silence in front of the statues of Koppány and his rebelling kinsmen. Stephen the King therefore found his proper place. He doubly did so: he could take his place in the repertory of Hungarian plays with this premiére at the National Theatre, and the work regained the original interpretation of its makers. Now it prompted to thinking and making choices instead of exuberant celebration. PÉTER JÁNOS SÓS ISTVÁN SZABÓ Hungarian agriculture in the eighties The basis of present, modern Hungarian agriculture is that, after 1 956, the IISWI’ was able to work out an agrarian policy with which the peasantry could identify. The new policy established the direct financial interest of the peasantry, the state and cooperative farms in production, and established cooperative farming, which became a reality between 1959 and 1902 on this basis. At that time (100,000 of the five million hectares of the arable land of the country were abandoned, ownerless land, there were problems about provisioning the country with meat, fats and cereals, which often had to be imported. After 1960 the large cooperative farms got down to work. Economic reforms were introduced in agriculture in 1967 a year earlier' than in industry. The independence of management was established by way of cancelling debts on a large scale, and raising procuration prices by 20 per cent within two years. These changes enabled the cooperative farms to produce what was most advantageous to them. The spirit of production rose considerably and by the late sixties agriculture had already coped with its first objective, that of feeding the people of Hungary. The way was then opened to a growth in agricultural exports. The seventies were the period of not only the development of modern iarge-seale production but also of coping with polltical and moral problems. Two great issues were closed in favour of agriculture. One was the question whether cooperative farms could carry on activities in food processing and industrial and service fields. Thet other concerned the plaee and weight of household farming. Eventually the views of the National Council of Cooperative Farms prevailed in both questions. Agriculture proved itself a sector of considerable load-bearing capacity in the context of a strict system of regulations and taxation. The seventies were also a period of economic and social levelling for the Hungarian peasantry. The peasantry and the working class are regarded as equal in rank in the present Hungarian political thinking. The pension system of the peasantry is now the same as that of the rest of society, and only negligible differences remained in its social welfare provisions. The objective in respect of the incomes, pensions and living conditions of the peasantry is their levelling. Essential changes took place in the Hungarian villages while a modern agriculture was born. It stands comparison with developed countries, indeed, in respect of cereal production and per capita meat production. About 20—25 per cent of the equipment used in Hungarian agriculture consists of Western units, 35 per cent of it is of Hungarian origin, while the balance was purchased from socialist countries. Hungarian agriculture has been operating in a tough economic environment since 1980, in connection with world economics, and under even tougher conditions during the past two years. Yet production is still growing in spite of a drought year. It is not possible, however, to overcome all troubles by better management, Agriculture cannot be pushed further, in the earlier manner. Central measures as well as price rises are needed in order to keep abreast with world standards and with the requirements of the future. There are signs of oversupply on international markets, therefore success can be achieved only with high-quality products. The government is not taking hasty decisions but conducting thorough research into possible structural changes that will maintain the standard of agricultural production. It is a cause of satisfaction that available data indicate that, this year again, Hungarian cereal production came close to the 15.5 million tonnes planned. A summary of a broadcast statement by István Szabó, Member of the Political Committee of the HSWP, and Chairman of the National Council of Cooperative Farms. 29
