Magyar News, 1997. szeptember-1998. augusztus (8. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1997-11-01 / 3. szám
SIR GEORGE SOLTI In recent decades, more like over a half century the Hungarians gave the world many outstanding musicians, conductors. Just to show respect, I would like to mention some of them, those with whom our readers might be familiar. There was George Sell, Fritz Reiner, Eugene Ormandy, Ernest von Dohnanyi, Leo Weiner, George Ligeti and naturally Sir George Solti. Solti, bom just before WW I, made his conducting debut with the Budapest Opera in 1933. WW II caught him in Switzerland where he was a performing pianist. From there he conducted the Operas in Munich and Frankfurt. In 1961 he became music director at Covent Garden. From there he became director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which became internationally considered one of the greatest orchestras. He has many accomplishments in the world, too long of a list to bring them all up. Recently we had to say farewell to Sir George Solti, Solti who died in his sleep while vacationing in southern France at the age of 85. He was a veiy dynamic conductor, putting to shame younger ones as he ran onto the stage for curtain calls. On stage he never stopped. He rocked back and forth, hunched over the score, looking as if he would pounce off the podium. Some time ago, when he conducted “Le Nozze di Figaro” with the Paris Opera, Solti accidentally stabbed the baton into his forehead, opening a cut. With blood streaming down his face, he left the podium for about a minute-as the performance continued-slapped some cold water on the cut and came back to the stage. He played tennis for an hour nearly every day. He organized chanty events with his wife. He had been looking forward to the release of his autobiography, and a gala 1,000th concert that month with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. TRIBUTE TO HUNGARIAN CONDUCTORS BY THE US POSTAL SERVICE Page 4 I am sure that many of you had an experience when you looked around and had a strange feeling that something is wrong with the picture. A few of us gathered in a restaurant on Andrassy ut in Budapest. We all knew each other, at times spent many hours together. Those occasions were one on one, and this was the first time 1 sat with all four of them. This was the first time that 1 met them in Budapest. I knew them from Bridgeport where they were scholarship students with the HISP of UB. They were sponsored by the Hungarian Graduate Scholarship Committee, the predecessor of the present American Hungarian Heritage Association. Each person spent a full year studying here and living with host families. Among the four, three studied English and now are professors at universities in Budapest. The forth person is a computer scientist. Actually we had six scholarship recipients. In the fluid transition situation, despite all our efforts we couldn’t locate one. Then we received a letter from Zsófi Bak’s brother letting us know that Zsófi died of cancer. In the photograph they are from left György Győri, Eva Federmeyer, D. Toth Balazs (computer scientist), visiting with me, my son Justin, and Elizabeth Zombori. As soon as the discussion started, the walls of Budapest opened up and the strange picture became familiar. We were talking about the U.S., about Bridgeport, all the people we knew, all who opened their hearts and their doors. Many questions about people they knew. Also many questions about them, how are they doing, how is the family. After the evening was over it also was a strange feeling to step out of English conversations in the world of the Hungarian language. I received promises that I will be hearing from each and every one. Joseph F. Balogh Heart filled messages from the Olde Country
