Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1988. január-június (42. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1988-03-24 / 12. szám
Thursday, March 24. 1988 AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO 11. AmEBiiAh HuncflRmns The Rajkó Band Rajkó means child in the Romany language of Hungarian Gypsies, but in Hungarian and in Romany alike it has come to mean something else as well: a young musician who shines in a Gypsy band, and may even rise to be the bandleading first violinist. To say a Gypsy musician has been a "rajkó" is a mark of deep appreciation for his professional expertise. The Rajkó Band was set up in 1950 as a group within the Hungarian Youth Art Ensemble, to allow outstandingly talented Gypsy children to perform and gain a thorough musical education. The ensemble, with 1,380 members at present, is Europe's largest, and divides into 30 groups, of which one, the Rajkó Band is organized on an ethnic basis. Every year, youngsters between 10 and 16 can apply to join, but only about ten of the 140-150 applicants get a place. The Rajkó Band has 104 members at the moment. . A contract is made with the parents, under which the ensemble provides free training and suitable clothes for performing, and pays a grant during the training years. The children must practice hard, attend regular rehearsals, and perform. So life for the Rajkós is not easy. There's normal school in the morning and rehearsals, musical education and performances in the afternoon. Each child has a personal tutor, and the ensemble engages the best teachers in the country. Classical music features in the curriculum alongside Hungarian and Gypsy folk and traditional music, dancing and song. Rajkós have to know all the genres from Hungarian traditional songs to opera and operetta. School tuition is fitted around the performances. Between them, Rajkós make 450-500 appearances a year, including trips abroad. Their surefire success in foreign cities is their rendering of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies. The Rajkós are famous not just for their music but for their discipline, and that applies to the primary and secondary schooling they receive. Poor marks would bring shame on the Band! They do their best, and most pass their secondary-school leaving exams and their professional exam as musicians. Many do better still, and continue their studies at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. During the Budapest Spring Festival, the Rajkó Band will be appearing on March 22 at the Pesti Vigadó concert hall. MOVIE REVIEW Working-class movies can usually be counted on the fingers of one hand. Good working-class movies are even rarer. "End of the Line" is a working-class movie. Actually it has a lot going for it. We are shown a cross-section of life in the southern town of Clifford, Arkansas. It turns out that Southland Railroad is abandoning the railroad yard in this town to be replaced by an airfreight installation. However two workers, Wilford Brimley, a brakeman (you have seen him in "Our House" on TV) and Leo Helm, car inspector take things into their own hands. They "borrow" a locomotive and ride from Arkansas to Chicago where Southland has its headquarters. They arrive and it turns out that the President of Southland (who has a marvelous toy train ensemble) has turned over the corporation to his son-in-law. He is shocked to learn that the railroad ALBÓK COLLECTION TO RUTGERS NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY - With the cooperation of the "Hungarian Heritage Review", the Hungarian Studies Program at Rutgers University became the recipient of a valuable collection of the photographic works of the late John Al- bok (1896-1982), a Hungarian tailorphotographer, a lifelong devoted supporter of the Magyar Szo, whose camera artistry has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, a number of prominent galleries, and elsewhere. One of his prints (Central Park: The Great Blizzard of 1947), for example, was used by the Metropolitan Museum of Art as the illustration for their 1987 Christmas Card. Included in the collection of photographs donated to the Hungarian Studies Program at Rutgers University by Mrs. Ilona Albok Vitarius of Dallas, Texas, the daughter of John Albok, are many fascinating photos of Hungarians and of Hungarian community life dating back to the early 1900's. The collection, which will be exhibited at a later date, is presently stored for safe-keeping in the university's Alexander Library. THREE MILLION BOOKS Each year 3 million Hungarian books are sold abroad; this means that one book in twelve published in Hungary is exported. Kultura Publishing House encourages joint publication which acts as an additional way of promoting Hungarian intellectual works abroad. A book which is written, translated and printed in Hungary is published and distributed abroad under a prominent foreign publisher's imprint. Books like Jeno Barcsay's Anatomy for the Artist, János Szentágothai's Atlas of Anatomy and a number of cookbooks have become veritable bestsellers in several languages. Hungarian books on chess are also in demand abroad; the British Pergamon Press publishes one or two books (collections of games) on the subject each year. A recent chess book to reach British readers was the international grandmaster Lajos Por- tisch's excellent work. In 1987 some fifty Hungarian books, over 160,000 copies in all were published jointly with foreign publishing companies. is being replaced by air freight. He turns the installation over to the employees to run it for themselves. And they live happily ever after. Presto, a working-class story with a fairy-tale ending. It is no Matewan! Embassy Theatre 72 St. and Broadway, N.Y.C. 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