Budapest, 1946. (2. évfolyam)

6. szám - BENEDEK ANDRÁS: Színházi esték

BUDAPEST ILLUSTRATED HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL REVIEW PUBLISHED BY THE CITY OF BUDAPEST THE TRAGEDY OF THE BUDAPEST ZOO The tragedy of the Budapest Zoo began in the early hours of September 14t

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1944 when three heavy trench inortar shells burst, and wrecked the large aviary in which lived, and then perished, the vultures and eagles as well as destroying the winter quarters of the lesser birds of prey. Amongst the birds that perished then was the condor, in both senses of the word the oldest inmate of the Zoo. Three days later, a chain bomb struck the fence surrounding the enclosure reserved for the red deer ; but, in some miraculous way, the inmates suffered no loss of life. During the night of September 19h a heavy shell exploded near the paddock housing the camels and killed three lamas. Another shell, but of smaller caliber, destroyed very many of the wild fowl living on the banks of the artificial lake. There then followed three days of relative calm. The grounds of the Budapest were the scenes of pitched battles during the siege itself. Anti-aircraft artillery and trench mortars were entrenched at every conceivable point of vantage and, as a result, there was a heavy loss of life both to men and to the animal inmates. The bomb which hit the giraffe house killed a male and female giraffe, the kangaroos and the gnus. A fully developed baby giraffe was born at the time this occured, but it too perished under the falling debris. However, it was not only as a result of the effect of total war that so many valuable animals perished, for the population, deprived of all means of obtaining food, broke into the compounds and slaughtered any animal they fancied. It was in this way that perished the very fine flock of merino sheep. Hundreds of precious birds and animals were slaughtered, regardless of their rarity of worth' and their carcasses bundled into sacks. Even the inmates of the Aquarium fell victims to appetite of the starving population. A pitiful picture was presented after the siege. Of the originally two thousand five hundred inmates, only fourtf en remained : five hippopotami, an Indian elephant cow, a dromedary, a lama, a South African badger and four small birds

- Herbert Nadler THE CONCERT HALL OF THE REDOUTE It is barely believable that there should not exist in Budapest even now a concerthall with good accoustics suitable for the interpretation of great orchestral or choral works. In our present situation, we can dj hardly more than dream of the construction of a palace of music. But, now that th" plans are ready a.id Ü unique opportunity for construction offers itseif, we must seize it with both hands in an endeavour to FOTO-OPTIKA THVRZÓ Budapest. V., Vigadó-u. 6. Távbeszélő ( F ut ит a - épület) provide the Hungarian capital with a home worthy of music. In view of the splendid examples of many fine concert halls abroad, it would be difficult to make a mistake. Anyone who has not listened to music elsewhere than in the Redoute can have but a faint inkling of its full splendour. All of us who have been brought up there were struck by the full brilliance and glory of music when we had occasion to listen to it in some foreign concert hall. Here, there existed discrepancies not only in the ratio of the value of the different groups of musical instruments, but the softer beats that were succeeded by some louder echo were always lost in the echoes themselves. Only if the listener actually had the score before him could he tell exactly what he was hearing. When the Academy of Music was built, it was believed that the problem had been solved; soon, however, it became apparent that that hall was too small to serve an orchestra and too large for chamber music. The shortness of the plot of land on which that building stands is partly responsible for the disparity in proportions, though it must be observed that it would not have been difficult, at the time the building was set up. to select a more suitable site. Another mistake pointing to a lack of foresight is that the Academy of Music was built in the immediate vicinity of one of the noisiest thoroughfares of the capital. This danger has to be reckoned with when we think of the concert hall in the Redoute building. On more than one occasion, the noise of passing river traffic has been known to break into a piano recital. This is a circumstance that will have to be borne in mind in the future and care will have to be taken to see to it that this handicap should be avoided in the future. Virgil Borbiró's plan for the reconstruction of the tragic ruins of the Redoute is full of promise as in addition to the advantage it takes of the unquestionable beauties of the existing site, it attaches the utmost importance to the construction of a really perfect concert hall. Let us hope that the inhabitants of the rebuilt capital of Hungary will, when they hear music in the new concert hall, listen to it as it really is. A clearer appreciation of the universal beauties of music will undoubtedly contribute to a clearer picture of the universal aspect of the world being formed. As Plato declared, the reason why a musical education is of such profound importance is because rhythm and song are the. media that can gain access to the inner recesses of the soid most easily ; this they hold in their firm grip and with the order that accompanies them make the person who is educated according to correct principles a man with inner satisfaction in his soul. Zoltán Kodály LUXUS-C IPO SZALON FÉRFI ÉS NŐI SZANDÁLOK ÉS CIPŐK Budapest, IV. kerület, Galamb-utca 6. я я ám TávbesiélSszám 1 80-68 1 шт Ё •