Do Your Essential Work, and Do it the Best Way Possible! | Alapvető művészetek: megélésről és élésről

My year-closing statements are:
1) It could have been worse
2) Fake News are like Arts
3) Improvisation is everything

OK, let me explain.

I am aware of the horrible fact, that hundreds of thousands of innocent lives were lost, and I know, that even more people are going to die before we take control of this pandemic. Yes, many deaths could have been avoided with more responsible and professional governance (this is true about many other countries, not just the US), and if Western societies had cooperation rather than competition as a shared value. Yes, at points the way lockdowns were managed caused more harm than good, and yes, panic has been the driving force of official response to COVID-19, at least at the very beginning. Yet, despite all this, we could have had it much worse. The virus could have been a much more aggressive one to start with. We could be living before times of modern technology: shared computational power, the Human Genome Project, worldwide distribution networks: indeed, we could be living a 100 years ago, when the Spanish Flu hit. We are surviving. We are adjusting — if not fast enough and perhaps not very well — to our changed environment thanks to science and accumulated human knowledge in not just medicine, but sociology, mathematics, physics and in other sciences.

Yes, we are managing this situation all right despite the newest level of human stupidity on an industrial level: fake news and “alternative truth”. These would be the natural byproducts of all the good things I have mentioned above. Our mindset as a race is behind our actual knowledge of the world by about a 100 years if not more. (Just compare the “wear a mask!”-stories from Spanish Flu- to present-times.) You hear and read stories about people dying of COVID-19 and still not believing in COVID-19. Well, cognitive dissonance was not invented in the 21st Century either, but it has, like everything else, grown into global proportions. Flat Earth Society has members all over the Globe, as we know. Still. This is nothing like the plague or a III. World War. We are lucky, and perhaps, we are also learning — if not fast enough and perhaps not very well — after all.

“Fake news” and “alternative truth” are the products of the human brain: they are the dark side of human imagination, and they are also a response: the reflexes of a person drowning in the water who would pull his rescuer, too, under the water to die. We should be extensively talking about the power of Arts, and how it can be used for good. We can make up stories to save ourselves. We can make up super-heroes who do good, and by doing good in a fictional world THEY, or rather WE can make us better in the real one. We can write music: melodies and rhythms that can help a person to escape the linear-time of our everyday troubles. By helping them “escape”, we are giving our fellow humans a place and time to breathe, to replenish, to push the restart button. Arts are powerful in ways we do not even realize: no doubt, you can cause real harm with the instruments of arts as well, but you can do real good even easier. We, artists have real responsibilities, so do people with money and power who can help Arts work for the better. If you can invent fake enemies, you can invent virtual friends and helpers just as easily. Do the latter one and help your fellow humans to be positive, supportive, sensitive, happy, relaxed.

Most of 2020 did not go as planned, and that tells us one very important thing: improvisation is everything. In every art form improvisation is a basic tool, and it is also true to the support system of arts. Keep in mind: ARTS ARE ESSENTIAL, and you will find the way to provide it, you will find the way to enjoy it, and you will find a way to help artists to help us get back to where we would like to be: in my case that would be a shared live experience in a concert hall, listening to great music performed by great players to a receptive audience. I have had to let many things go this year, just like pretty much everyone everywhere. However, other opportunities, perhaps never before imagined ones, arose. In my case time was made for more composing, planning, finding alternative ways of maintaining precious relationships with my musicians and music-lover friends. Events, important opportunities, were postponed instead of cancelled. This alone shows the importance of what artists do (for You All, not just “for a living”), we, and by we I mean, We All want this. We want to do this. It is important. It is essential. My fellow musicians (artists), keep improvising while keeping your eye on the target! Help others as much as you can, make things work in your area for the better! Art-institutions: postpone, do not cancel! Governments: replace, recalibrate, do not just throw things away, keep it going! To us all: work many times harder on delivering perhaps less than usual, but nevertheless delivering the very thing what you are here for, and for making it better for as many of your fellow human beings as possible. Do your essential work, and do it the best way possible!

At the end of the year I am thankful for many unexpected things: compositions I could finish, new commissions, being asked to judge composition-competitions, doing live concert-, and opera performance-streams, doing socially distanced concerts, finding unusual ways to fundraise. I am thankful for the Artisjus Performing Arts Award. I am thankful for being able to stay safe and feed my family. I am thankful for being part of working for better things, and for preparing — together with every one of you — to return to everything essential and human.

I wish Everyone Merry Christmas, Blessed Holidays, and a 2021 rich in Arts and all the Good Things only we can give each other.

Amit az elmúlt évről mondanék:
1) Lehetett volna rosszabb
2) Az álhírek olyanok mint a művészetek
3) Az improvizáció mindent visz

Akkor kifejtem.

Tudom, hogy százezrek, talán milliók haltak meg úgy, hogy nem kellett volna meghalniuk. Tudom, hogy a közeljövőben még több százezer ember lenne megmenthető. Mindez persze felelős és profi kormányzással (ami itt és most nem ország vagy rendszer függő), és akkor, ha itt nyugaton a szabadverseny helyett mondjuk az egymás iránti felelősség és a kooperáció lennének alapértékek. Érthető, hogy kezdetben a pánik volt a pandémiára adott hivatalos válasz alapja, de ahol ma is halogatnak és nem követik a hozzáértők tanácsát, ott tudatosan hagyják polgártársaikat meghalni. Mindezt számba véve mégis azt mondom, lehetett volna rosszabb is. Maga a COVID-19 vírus lehetett volna agresszívabb (a mutációkra továbbra is figyelni kell!). Élhetnénk 100 évvel ezelőtt is, a spanyol nátha korában, amikor még sem az emberi géntérkép, sem az egész világot behálózó gyógyszerterjesztő hálózatok nem léteztek. Az emberiség alkalmazkodik, talán nem olyan gyorsan és fájdalom nélkül mint szeretnénk, de a felgyűlt közös tudásnak köszönhetően legalábbis eséllyel élünk túl egy pandémiát.

Annak ellenére működni látszik a válságkezelés, hogy most már évek óta élünk együtt az emberi sötétség legújabb vívmányaival, az álhírekkel és az úgynevezett „alternatív valóság”-gal, és mindettől, az legújabb információs technológiáknak köszönhetően, a világ egyetlen pontján sem menekülhetünk. Az álhírek és az „alternatív valóság” az internet korának, és az emberi képzelet árnyoldalának természetes melléktermékei. Attól félek, mint faj, mentálisan még valóban 100 évvel ezelőtt, a spanyol nátha korában élünk. Hallunk megdöbbentő történeteket olyanokról, akik a COVID-19 komplikációiban haldokolva is azt mondják, ez az egész csak ki lett találva. Hiába, a kognitív disszonancia sem mai találmány. Mégis, ez azért nem a III. világháború vagy egy évszázadokkal ezelőtti pestisjárvány. Valljuk be, szerencsénk van, és talán tanuljuk a valóságot olyan sebességgel, ami továbbra is segíthet túlélni. Mindeközben részletesen és folyamatosan kellene beszélnünk a művészetek erejéről, és hogy azt jóra vagy rosszra használjuk. Az álhírek kitalálása, magunknak való bemagyarázása és terjesztése ugyanannak az emberi képzelőerőnek köszönhetőek, amely kreativitásával rengeteg fantasztikus alkotást tud létrehozni, és amely élhetővé teszi a mindennapokat. Nekünk művészeknek, közönségnek, hatalommal és pénzzel rendelkezőknek közös felelősségünk, hogy a művészetek a jóra tanítsanak, és segítsenek az önzés, a hazugság, a gonoszság erői ellen, amely erők persze szintén mi magunk vagyunk.

Nekem sem úgy alakult 2020, ahogy terveztem, de kinek? Az improvizáció minden művészeti ágban alapja az alkotásnak, és most már fontos és elismert alapja a művészeti alkotás feltételei megteremtésének is. Ez úton is köszönöm a szervezőknek, művésztársaknak, a közönség tagjainak, hogy közösen kitaláltuk, és megtaláltuk azokat az utakat, módokat, ahogy zene, tánc, színház — mindannyiunk túlélése érdekében — életben tartható. Mindez nem történhetett volna meg, ha nem vagyunk hajlandóak közösen improvizálni, annak minden bizonytalanságával és szépségével együtt. Köszönöm mindazoknak, akik a helyett, hogy lemondtak volna egy produkciót mindent megtettek, hogy azt online lehessen közvetíteni, akik kitalálták a táv-mozit és a virtuális koncerttermet, akik fáradtságot nem kímélve biztosították szociális távolságtartással megvalósítható események létrejöttét. Mindez nem csak a művészek megéléséről (avagy éhen nem halásáról) szól, hanem mindannyiunk „éléséről” is. Segítsünk egymásnak!

Így, az év végén hálás vagyok a várt és váratlan lehetőségekért: megrendelésekért, zsűrizésre való felkérésekért, élő koncertekért és élő közvetítésekért, videó-beszélgetésekért, zene-felvételekért. Hálás vagyok a halasztásokért a törlések helyett. Hálás vagyok az Artisjus Előadó-művészeti Díjért, mert újból bebizonyosodott, hogy vannak akik odafigyelnek arra amit csinálok, és értékelik azt. Hálás vagyok azért, hogy a családom és én eddig egészségben és biztonságban megúsztuk ezt az őrületet. Maradjon is így. Hálás vagyok mindazoknak, akik segítettek/ segítenek túlélni, és felkészülni a jobb időkre.

Mindenkinek Áldott Karácsonyt, Boldog Ünnepeket, és zenében — különösen élő hangversenyekben — gazdag 2021-et kívánok!

Zooming In | Fókuszban

Every musical composition created during the COVID 19 quarantine is a quarantine-composition, even if its title does not say so, even if its notes have nothing to do with the COVID19 chord (look it up, there are at least two versions in circulation online). You live in quarantine, you produce quarantine-art, and there is no way to get away from it. There are of course countless memes how classical music composers, designers, writers and gamers 😉 are the ones for whom nothing has really changed during the stay-at-home order, but that, as funny and true it sounds, is a misunderstanding. It is very different to stay home and work while the world outside is buzzing with action. Choosing self-isolation and reflecting on the world’s affairs makes for a totally different artistic output. Then there is art we have been making for the last two months that was meant to be released for your “quarantine-audience” in the first place. Most of the songs, short pieces, poems, plays produced in quarantine-times have ben written in mind with or were adapted to the social distancing circumstances. ‘ZOOM’ the now worldwide-known video-conferencing platform has it in its name: we are all zooming in. We can only see a frame, we can only record/ broadcast so much data (limited length), we are not supposed to overdo our online video messaging (that was a no-no from the start, apparently people don’t watch anything over a minute or minute and a half), and so on. We all have to deal with the the special circumstances for every parameter.

Since March 14 I have finished a composition for two voices and clapping (intended for one singer performing a duet with herself, see also: the acapella app), one for clarinet and piano (this one ended up a pretty substantial piece with its 13 minutes length), and a very short casual composition for piano solo. I have started writing a new opera (no spoilers yet for this project, sorry), and have completed a scene and a half of it. I have also joined the Art of Virus project initiated by Kornél Fekete Kovács and the Modern Art Orchestra. For this interesting “internet-virus” concept I have produced my 40 second long etude for big band and sampled animal sounds, entitled ‘Murder in the ZOO”. Soon all the compositions will be uploaded to a website, until then here is the article (in Hungarian) about ‘Art of Virus’ with a few videos included.

https://fidelio.hu

Virus and isolation do not stop creativity. However I truly cannot wait to be able to perform in front of a live audience again: no video-frame and (self-)imposed time limits. Nothing replaces the personal connection with my fellow musicians and the audience.

A fenti linken lehet olvasni Fekete Kovács Kornél és a Modern Art Orchestra projektje ‘Art of Virus’ projektjéről, amelyhez én is hozzájárultam egy mintegy 40 másodperces darabbal. Címe: Gyilkosság az állatkertben.

Karantén idején alkotott művek akkor is karantén-művek lesznek, ha sem témájukban, sem anyagukban (érdemes a YouTube-on rákeresni a COVID19 akkordra) nem akarnak reflektálni alkotójuk aktuális helyzetére. Visszatérő poén, miszerint zeneszerzőknek, íróknak és gamereknek 🙂 semmi sem változott az elmúlt két hónapban, ugyanúgy otthon, egyedül magányosan dolgoznak mint azelőtt. Persze nem ugyanaz művészetünkkel egy nyüzsgő világra reflektálni, mint százmilliók sorsában, keserűségében, frusztrációjában osztozni. Ebből a szempontból nincs menekvés. Nincs olyan maszk ami megállítsa a COVID19 művészeti alkotásokra gyakorolt hatását, még akkor sem látszólag nincsenek szimptómák. Ott vannak aztán azok a művek, amelyek kifejezetten a helyzetre reagálva, az adott speciális körülményekre kitalálva születtek. Én már nagyon várom, hogy ne a ‘ZOOM’ platform ingyenes 40, vagy az internetes videó üzenetek elvárt másfél perce határozza meg egy beszélgetés vagy egy monológ hosszát. Szívesebben venném azt is, ha az írandó zenedarabok komplexitását nem az izolált zenészek technikai felszereltségéhez kellen igazítani. A lényeg: a személyes kontaktusnak, azaz az egy légtérben előadott és befogadott élő művészetnek nincs alternatívája.

Március 14 óta, a fenti ‘Murder in the ZOO’ mellett komponáltam két darabot, melyek megfelelnek a karantén körülményeknek (egy rövid zongora szóló művet, és egy dalt, amelyben az énekes saját magával duettezik), valamint egy klarinét-zongora darabot, amely kifejezetten a szokásos koncert körülmények között él csak meg. Ez utóbbi 13 perc lett, tehát elég jelentős mind anyagában, mind pedig hosszát tekintve. Megírtam másfél jelenetet egy új operából, amelyről itt nem tudok és nem is szeretnék még mesélni.

ZOOM: ráközelítés, nagyítás. Találó név egy konferencia platformnak, de az alkotóművészek jelenlegi helyzetének is. A munkával egy percre sem álltam le, de most már, szívem szerint, nézném megint a teljes képet.

Busy Season Finale / Sűrű szezonvég

The 2017-18 Season is coming to an end. Since I arrived to Budapest, Hungary after the last classical concert of the Huntsville Symphony season I have had an extremely busy schedule. A conducting-composition masterclass organized by the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation took place at the Budapest Music Center. The musicians of the Danubia Symphony Orchestra were conducted by 7 young conductors in Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Punkte and Arnold Schoenberg’s Chambersymphony op.9. Thee new pieces were also premiered, two for string trio, one for violin and piano by young composers. These concerts are always streamed live on the website of the BMC. Everyone has done a great job, and I had fun teaching alongside Peter Eötvös and Alessandro Solbiati.
http://www.wikipedia.org

June 5 was the date of the performance of my opera, Barbie Blue (libretto by András Almási Tóth) as the “matching piece” for Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle. This production was part of the ‘BLUEBEARD 100’ Festival of the Hungarian State Opera. At the Erkel Theater (the main opera house building is being remodeled right now and is closed for another season) great singers and the musicians of the State Opera Orchestra did a great job of playing both works (neither of them is easy!), and I enjoyed working with stage director, and former director of the Opera, Miklós Szinetár.
http://www.wikipedia.org
On June 13 I was the conductor of the final exam of the students of the opera department of the Liszt Academy. We have performed a one of a kind, beautiful work, ‘Le vin herbé’ (The Love Potion) by Frank Martin, which practically tells the original version of the Tristan and Isolde story. Unlike the famous Wagner opera, this work is scored for 12 singers, 7 string players and a piano, and has a totally different approach to the legend. Andras Almasi Toth directed the performance, and it was beautifully choreographed by Noémi Kulcsár, artistic Director of the Tellabor Dance Company.

And now, Armel Opera Festival and Competition 2018 is around the corner. I am conducting two performances this year. On July 3 and 4 at the MUTH Theater in Vienna we will be presenting my chamber opera, The Giant Baby, and Lady Sarashina, a one act opera by Peter Eötvös. The latter production is a revival (with a partially new cast) of András Almási Tóth’s staging of the work in collaboration with the Liszt Academy. The Pannon Philharmonic, resident orchestra of the festival will be playing. The Giant Baby was my very first opera. In the last 15 or so years I have composed 3 others, and learned along the way how and what to write for the stage and for operatic voices. I decided to totally rewrite the music for The Giant Baby, and also to rework the libretto with the help of writer Péter Horváth. The Giant Baby is a surrealist story about life in general, and both the music and the staging is aiming at a very special audience, young adults (16+) and adults at the same time. This production is a collaboration between Armel Festival and the Kolibri Theater.
http://www.kolibriszinhaz.hu
János Novák, general director of the theater is doing the staging, and the beautiful puppets are designed by Klaudia Orosz. Here is her page with a couple of photos of her designs.
http://www.kolibriszinhaz.hu
Here is the link to the festival with all the details.
http://www.armelfestival.org
Remember, all performances are LIVE BROADCAST on Arte Concert website and will be available to watch for 6 months afterwards!
There will be two more performances of The Giant Baby in Budapest, on July 6 & 7. With these two performances my season ends and my summer season starts. More about the latter in a later post.

It is a nice coincidence that 3 of my 4 operas happen to be played during the same season. ‘Georgia Bottoms’ had its Hungarian premiere in October, 2017, then there was ‘Barbie Blue’, and now ‘The Giant Baby’ is coming up. Oh yes, and I also made it to the KULT50 selection this year, which is a list comprised by cultural journalists and critics, and published by Fidelio magazine. I was in the 4 artists invited to participate in the press conference. It was a very interesting conversation about Trends and Brands.

——

A 2017-18-as szezon hamarosan véget ér. Amióta Budapestre érkeztem a Huntsville Symphony idei utolsó koncertje után, nem volt megállás. Az Eötvös Intézet által szervezett karmester-zeneszerző kurzuson Karlheinz Stockhausen Punkte és Schönberg Kamaraszimfónia című műveit tanítottam. A fiatal zeneszerzők és karmesterek jól szerepeltek, és a Danubia Zenekar muzsikusai is kitettek magukért. Élvezet volt Eötvös Péterrel és Alessandro Solbiati
http://www.wikipedia.org
olasz zeneszerzővel együtt dolgozni.

Június 5-én került az Erkel Színház színpadára Barbie Blue című operám (Almási Tóth András librettójára) mint a Kékszakállú Herceg Vára párdarabja, a Magyar Állami Operaház Kékszakállú 100 fesztiválja keretében. Az előadás második felében a Kékszakállú Szinetár Miklós rendezésében ment, akivel, akárcsak az est négy énekes szólistájával, öröm volt dolgozni. Az Operaház Zenekarának ez úton is külön köszönöm a figyelmes munkát, és a szép végeredményt!

Június 13-án a Zeneakadémia operavizsgájának keretében elvezényelhettem Frank Martin ‘Le vin herbé’ (A szerelmi bájital) című “ellen-Trisztánját”, amelyet 12 tagú kamarakórusra, hét vonósra és zongorára komponált a svájci zeneszerző. Vicces, hogy pont aznap ment, amikor a MÜPÁ-ban Wagner Trisztán és Izoldája. 🙂 Ismét remekül dolgoztunk Kulcsár Noémivel és Almási Tóth Andrással.

Most következik az idei Armel Fesztivál és Opera Verseny. Július 3-án saját művemet, a Déry Tibor szövege alapján íródott Az Óriáscsecsemőt, majd másnap Eötvös Péter Lady Sarashina című egyfelvonásosát vezényelem a bécsi MUTH Színházban, utóbbit a Pannon Filharmonikusok közreműködésével. A Lady Sarashina az Almási Tóth András rendezte Zeneakadémiás produkció felújítása lesz, míg Az Óriáscsecsemőt Novák János rendezi majd, a Kolibri Színház művészeivel, tervező Orosz Klaudia. További előadások az Operett Színház Raktárszínházában július 6-án és 7-én.
Az Armelről és az Arte Concert élő közvetítéseiről itt lehet részleteket megtudni:
http://www.armelfestival.org

Ezzel az idei szezonban 4 operámból 3 kerül színre valamilyen formában, ami csupán a véletlen műve, és mint ilyen valóban a csillagok szép együttállását jelzi. Idén belekerültem a Fidelio KULT50 válogatásába is, és Tenki Réka színésznővel, Ragályi Elemér operatőrrel és Parti Nagy Lajos íróval együtt a KULT50 sajtótájékoztatójára s meghívtak, ahol Trend és Brand címmel érdekes beszélgetésnek lehettem a résztvevője.

Hamarosan újabb posztban jelentkezem majd a nyári szezon eseményeivel.

In Two Languages / Két nyelven

I believe, I owe my Hungarian friends the courtesy after so many years, so here we go: I will be posting, from now on, in two languages. As it turns out many people from Hungary follow my blog, and I feel I should make it easier for them to keep up with the items from my news desk.
In exchange, as promised, I will post translations here of Hungarian reviews, but for that I ask for you patience. I am in the middle of composing my opera “The Giant Baby” (actually completely re-composing it, since Giantbaby was actually my very first opera written in 2001), and as soon as I am done with the music I will have more time on my hands.

After a successful concert with the Danubia Symphony (see two reviews below in Hungarian)
http://www.toptipp.hu
http://www.fidelio.hu
I have taught at the conducting-composition masterclass of the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation for a few days (Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale and newly composed pieces were on the program) for a couple of days. We have had the pleasure of working with young composers and conductors, including the four talented young men who were chosen as the first participants of the very special mentoring program.
See details here:
http://www.eotvosmusicfoundation.org

On Sunday I have flown to Hamburg where I have started the rehearsals for the revival of the double bill Senza Sangue/ Bluebeard’s Castle at Staatsoper Hamburg. I am doing two out of the four performances on March 3 and 9. Before that, on March 1, I will be conducting a concert I am really looking forward to, with the soloists of the Hungarian Radio Symphony at the Liszt Academy. Schonberg: Pierrot lunaire, Berio: Folksongs, and Stravinsky: Renard are on the program.
http://www.zeneakademia.hu
On March 8 there will be another great program with major works by Kurtág, J.S. Bach and Rachmaninov as part of the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra’s “In Memoriam Zoltán Kocsis” concert series.
http://www.pfz.hu

Úgy hiszem, itt az idő, hogy mindazok kedvéért, akik szívesebben olvasnák a blogomat magyarul, elkezdjek két nyelven posztolni. Ez úton is köszönöm az eddigi bizalmat és érdeklődést, és remélem, hogy ezzel a pozitív változással még többek érdeklődését felkeltem majd. Januárban az óbudai Danubia Zenekart vezényeltem a Zeneakadémián a “Gépek” című izgalmas, és nem ellentmondásokat nélkülöző programban. A fenti két első link ennek a koncertnek két, magyarul megjelent, kritikájára vezet. Néhány nap tanítás után (az Eötvös Péter Alapítvány karmester-zeneszerző kurzusán a BMC-ben, ahol ezúttal a több éves mentor program első fiataljai is részt vettek http://www.eotvosmusicfoundation.org ) Hamburgba repültem. Hétfőn kezdődtek a Staatsoper Hamburg tavalyi Senza sangue-Kékszakállú produkciója felújításának próbái. A négy előadásból kettőt vezényelek majd, március 3-án és 9-én.
Mindeközben magyarországi koncertjeim is folytatódnak. A Magyar Rádió Zeenekarának zenészei és Meláth Andrea énekművész közreműködésével március 1-én Schönberg: Pierrot lunaire, Berio: Folksongs, és Stravinsky: A róka című darabjait dirigálom a Zeneakadémia Solti termében.
http://www.zeneakademia.hu

Március 8-án a Pannon Filharmonikusok élén, a Kodály központban, a Kocsis Zoltán emlékére rendezett koncertsorozat részeként vezényelem Kurtág György, Johann Sebastian Bach és Rachmaninov műveit. A zongoraszólista Palojtay János lesz.
http://www.pfz.hu

Mindeközben komponálom első operám, Az Óriáscsecsemő teljesen új verzióját, melynek bemutatója az idei Armel versenyen, a bécsi MUTH színházban lesz. Az opera librettőja (Horváth Péter és jómagam munkája) Déry Tibor azonos című, 1926-os “dadaista drámáján” alapszik, a produkciót a Kolibri Színház jegyzi majd, rendező Novák János lesz.

The Season of Operas

On Monday we are starting the second week of ‘DialogScene’ workshop organized by the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation. I will be moderating a “meet the audience” session in the evening.
http://www.bmc.hu
The final performance of the five brand new operas composed by young composers from all over the world, and directed by young Hungarian directors (music-theater directors’ class of Tamás Ascher) is open to the audience and will be held in the evening of Friday, September 15.
Click below for more details.
http://www.bmc.hu

When I am not teaching I am composing new music to my first opera, The Giant Baby. The world premiere will take place in Vienna as part of the 2018 Armel Opera Festival. I am having a lot of fun with totally re-writing the music to the slightly altered libretto based on the 1926 Dadaist play by Hungarian Author Tibor Déry.
https://www.britannica.com

Just so we stick to the theme of the fall of 2017, my latest stage work, ‘Georgia Bottoms, A Comic Opera of the Modern South’ will get a new production at the Academy of Music as part of CAFe Budapest (Contemporary Art Festival Budapest). Rebecca Nelsen, who sang the title role in Huntsville two years ago returns as Georgia. Also in the role of her son, Nathan I am happy to have the young and talented American baritone, Keith Browning from the original cast. Author of the novel, Georgia Bottoms, my co-librettist, Mark Childress (who will also be here for the Hungarian premiere) and I have added two completely new scenes and changed one of the old ones to make the story more complete. Changes were needed also to give a little resting time and more than a minute to change costumes for rebecca as Georgia Bottoms. The staging will be done by Andras Almasi Toth, and the other 9 roles will be sung by talented Hungarian singers, including Andrea Meláth, head of the Vocal Department of the Liszt Academy. Here are the dates for the performances:
October 8 and 10
and a link to the website of CAFe Budapest:
https://www.cafebudapest.hu

Les feux d’artifice

“The fireworks have ended. They did not last long.”
http://www.youtube.com
These are the last words of Rufus Wainwright’s opera “Prima Donna”. The premiere is this afternoon at the Kodály Center in Pecs (Southern Hungary), second performance on June 28 in Budapest with a live HD broadcast on Arte Concert. Check out the cast here:
http://www.armelfestival.org
Watch out for the broadcast details on FaceBook and on Twitter! Until then here is a concert video from Paris with the fully orchestrated version of the song.
http://www.youtube.com

I have spent a lot of time this past month with wonderful “prima donnas” and talented singers in productions of the following operas:
Kamillo Lendvay: The respectable Prostitute
Gyorgy Ligeti: Le grand macabre
Mate Bella: Spring Awakening
Gabor Peter Mezei: By the Catafalque
Arpad Solti: La Violetta

After “MagyarFeszt” (a festival of Hungarian operas organized by the State Opera), I was invited to teach a conducting master class with Peter Eötvös at his Contemporary Music Institute. It was a great week with the Danubia Orchestra and the music of Wolfgang Rihm and Zoltan Kodály. Next week, with the June 28 performance of “Prima Donna” opens the 10th Armel Opera Festival and Competition. I will also conduct the final gala concert of the Armel Festival with award winning singers from France and Hungary. It’s going to be a nice change of pace with music by Mozart, Donizetti, Bizet, Gounod and others.

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Sudden and Light

‘What do you make so fair and bright?’

‘I make the cloak of Sorrow:
O lovely to see in all men’s sight
Shall be the cloak of Sorrow,
In all men’s sight.’

‘What do you build with sails for flight?’

‘I build a boat for Sorrow:
O swift on the seas all day and night
Saileth the rover Sorrow,
All day and night.’

What do you weave with wool so white?’

‘I weave the shoes of Sorrow:
Soundless shall be the footfall light
In all men’s ears of Sorrow,
Sudden and light.’

The poem above is by Yeats and it provides the lyrics to my orchestral song composed for my next concert in Budapest. On Tuesday at the helm of the Hungarian Radio Symphony I conduct a program of the following compositions:

Haydn: Farewell Symphony
R. Strauss: Morgen!

Haydn: The Desert Island (L’isola disabitata) Overture
G. Vajda: The Cloak, The Boat and The Shoes [World Premiere]
R. Strauss: Four Last Songs

The concert program is designed as an homage to Jozsef Vajda, my late father who has passed this February at the age of 68. He served as the principal bassoonist of the Radio Symphony for 28 years. It is an honor to be able to present a concert in his memory as part of the Liszt Academy concert series of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The program revolves around the gesture of ‘farewell’ and includes pieces I have heard my Father play several times (like the Haydn Symphony). The wonderful Eva Batori will be singing the soprano part for all the songs. Please listen to the concert live or stream it for two weeks after the concert at:
http://mediaklikk.hu

Read a great analysis here about the Yeats poem I put into music in my “Lullaby for Soprano and Orchestra”:
http://stuffjeffreads.wordpress.com

Mozart in the Looney Bin

I am about to take another brief break from Eötvös and Bartók, and take a short trip to London to conduct Mozart’s Magic Flute with the staging of Róbert Alföldi
http://alfoldirobert.eu
as part of the Armel Opera Festival Days at the Hackney Empire Theater.
This is going to be my London debut.
The director has placed Mozart’s magical opera-characters between the walls of a mental institution, where everybody has his or her own mental issue. Magically (pun intended) this idea works really well and highlights some of the more interesting twists and turns of the original story. Just think about it for a second: who is the bad guy here? Is it really the Queen of the Night or is it Sarastro? Is everything black and white like we would like it to be?

Check out the full Armel program at the Hackney Empire here including the ‘In Memory of 1956’ concert program on October 23 conducted by Adam Fischer
http://hackneyempire.co.uk

In Nature’s Realm

I am back in Huntsville. The weather is beautiful as always in September. As my friends in Europe are starting to wear their rain coats and sweaters, I still get to dip in the swimming pool in the morning. I love how summer is stretched out here in the South.

Our 2016-17 Season at the HSO is starting with a kind of musical meditation on Nature and on Human Life.

Dvořák: In Nature’s Realm, op. 91
Smetana: The Moldau, from My Homeland
Fauré: Requiem, op. 48

Guest Artists:
Tiffany Boltic-Brown, Terrance Brown and the Huntsville Community Chorus

Visit our website for more information on our opening gala and on the rest of the season.
http://hso.org

Talking about “meditation”, very soon musicians of the Huntsville Symphony and myself will be presenting a Yoga Session with Live Music at one of my favorite venues ever: Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment
http://lowemill.net
More about this concert soon!

Last week was busy (indeed, the Season does not start with the first fall performance but with all the preparation the precedes this part of the year). After finishing the editing of the studio recording of my composition “Clarinet Symphony” (it sounds great and I am hoping to report soon about what happens to the recording itself) I traveled to Szeged (Southern-Hungary) where I did a few pre-rehearsals for Armel Festival’s presentation of The Magic Flute at the Hackney Empire Theater in London, England. I am also preparing for the long rehearsal period at the Hamburg Opera starting at the end of September. I will be adding another opera to my repertoire: Peter Eötvös’ Senza sangue (Without Blood)
http://eotvospeter.com
This new work will be staged alongside with Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle (an amazing piece of music soon to be a 100 years old!).

Nature, music, lot of travel: Season 16-17 here I come!

No. 16 – Quartet

CONSTANZA:
Ah, Belmonte, my beloved!

BELMONTE:
Ah, Constanza, my beloved!

CONSTANZA:
Can it be? What rapture!
To hold you close to my heart
After so many days of unhappiness!

BELMONTE:
What bliss to find you!
Now all grief must vanish!
Oh how my heart rejoices!

CONSTANZA:
See how my tears of joy flow freely.

BELMONTE:
Angel! Let me kiss them from your cheek.

CONSTANZA:
Let them be the last ones.

BELMONTE:
Indeed, you shall be free this very day.

PEDRILLO:
Now, Blonda, have you understood?
Everything is prepared for flight.
We will be here on the stroke of midnight.

BLONDA:
Don’t worry, all will be ready,
I shall count the minutes;
If only the moment were here already!

ALL FOUR TOGETHER:
At last the sun of hope
Illuminates the gloomy skies.
Full of rapture, joy and bliss
We can see the end of our suffering.

BELMONTE:
Yet, in spite of my happiness
My heart within my breast
Is full of secret care.

CONSTANZA:
What is it, dearest? Tell me,
Quickly, explain yourself.
Conceal nothing from me!

BELMONTE:
They say ? they say ? that you …

CONSTANZA:
Go on!

PEDRILLO:
(indicating that he risks being hanged)
But Blonda, oh that ladder!
Are you really worth it?

BLONDA:
You fool, have you gone mad?
It might be better
If you had turned the question round!

PEDRILLO:
But Master Osmin??

BLONDA:
Let’s hear it!

CONSTANZA:
Will you not explain yourself?

BELMONTE:
They say??

PEDRILLO:
But Master Osmin??

BELMONTE:
That you??

PEDRILLO:
But Master Osmin??

BLONDA:
Let’s hear it!

CONSTANZA:
Go on??
Will you not explain yourself?

BELMONTE:
I will. But do not be angry
If, having heard a rumor,
I should dare to ask you
In fear and trembling
Whether you love the Pasha?

PEDRILLO:
(to Blonda)
Has Master Osmin never,
As one might well believe,
Exercised his lordly rights
Upon you as your owner?
That would a poor bargain!

CONSTANZA:
(to Belmonte)
Oh, how you grieve me!

BLONDA:
(to Pedrillo)
Here’s my reply to you!
(slaps Pedrillo’s face)

PEDRILLO:
Now I am in the picture.

BELMONTE:
(on his knees)
Constanza, oh forgive me!

BLONDA:
(angrily walking away from Pedrillo)
You don’t deserve me at all!

CONSTANZA:
(sighing as she turns away from Belmonte)
Have I remained faithful to you?

BLONDA:
(to Constanza)
The rogue has dared to ask
Whether I have remained true to him!

CONSTANZA:
(to Blonda)
And Belmont has been told
That I love the Pasha!

PEDRILLO:
(rubbing his cheek)
I’d take my dying oath
On Blonda’s fidelity!

BELMONTE:
(to Pedrillo)
Constanza is true to me,
There can be no doubt about it.

CONSTANZA – BLONDA:
When men become suspicious
And have no faith in our honour,
And look upon us with mistrust,
It is not to be borne.

BELMONTE – PEDRILLO:
When women are aggrieved
Because we think them fickle,
Then they are really true
And free from all reproaches.

PEDRILLO:
Dearest Blonda do forgive me!
Look, I put more faith in your fidelity
Than upon my own head!

BLONDA:
No, you can’t get away with it.
Suspecting me of doing that
With that foolish old buffer!

BELMONTE:
Oh, Constanza, my beloved!
Can you ever forgive me
For having asked such a question?

CONSTANZA:
Belmonte! How could you believe
That anyone could steal this heart
Which beats for you alone?

BELMONTE – PEDRILLO:
Oh, forgive me!

PEDRILLO – BELMONTE:
I am repentant!

CONSTANZA – BLONDA:
I forgive
Your remorse.

ALL FOUR:
Well, let this be the end of the matter!
Long live love
Let us value nothing else!
Let nothing kindle
The fire of jealousy.

That’s all. Problems solved, everybody lives happily ever after. Love prevails. In about 10 minutes real time, Mozart manages to bring two couples back together and clear all misunderstandings. Opera at its best. Whatever happens before and after is just another “pirate story” (full of amazing and genius musical numbers of course).

I am awestruck by No. -16 Quartet.

Conducting ‘The Abduction from the Seraglio’ energized me beyond belief. I am ready for the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. We’ll be playing Enescu Romanian Rhapsody #1, Dvorak Symphony #8 and the World Premiere of my newest composition: Clarinet Symphony at MUPA (Palace of the Arts), Budapest on February 3.

http://www.mupa.hu

I love my job!