A year and a half ago you said it was time that you composed again, considering that you had graduated from the Music Academy from the composition-conducting department. Did you think at the time that you would write a transcription of Wagner?s opera.
It was not my idea but that of András Csonka, who is deputy managing director of the Palace of Arts. He came up with the idea, exactly a year and a half ago, that there should be a Wagner production for children. He first thought of performing Der Ring des Nibelungen für Kinder which is performed by many operas around the world. I?ve seen it in Switzerland, where I regularly conduct. It is a popular production, a 90-minute abridged version of the Ring which would normally last four evenings. But eventually they decided to bring to life a completely new production at the Wagner festival in Budapest and I had the honour of being commissioned to write the piece.
The Lohengrin transcription?
No, the first question was which Wagner opera I thought suitable. So I paged through the score and refreshed all the information I had about Wagner and his life story. Then I told them that it can only be Lohengrin. The Palace of Arts was quite pleased about that because it is also this year?s premiere at the Wagner Festival. When I started the work, I initially thought that I would use only the first act because it can stand on itself. But then I felt that many parts of the music would be missing. So then I had to face the next problem: should I condense and cut Wagner?s composition in order to make it fit into 90 minutes or should I create a transcription in a different way. Eventually I decided to handle the Lohengrin as base material. Almost like a precious stone which needs to be placed in a case and this can lend it a different meaning. It triggered an avalanche in me, the result of which has become this unusual Knight of the Swan.
How did the opera change?
The main protagonist of this story is not Lohengrin but Elsa, the young girl, and it is about her growing up. The production starts from real time, from today, in a secondary school where the kids in the class joke with each other. They are fooling around but there is a girl who lives in her own dream world. She dreams about a knight arriving on a swan and then one day it all comes true. We find ourselves in Wagner?s story, surrounded by elements of this fairy tale. And the end of the piece is about waking up. Elsa is past her first big disappointment, she has experienced love and the fact that many questions in life are left unanswered. And that?s what makes one an adult....
And how is it possible to turn all that to the language of young people? I assume your 12 year-old daughter must have helped you out.
The piece includes much prose that I had to write. And I always tested these texts on my daughter Fanni. I asked her if the dialogues sounded right. And indeed in some cases she proposed that she would completely rewrite a part. And I do hope that she will come and watch the rehearsals and make her input, to make sure that it really speaks to young people. Anyway, I had an easy job because I can see my children?s life and I know that Fanni will go through these things any minute now. Many make the mistake thinking that when it comes to performances for children, the characters should speak in childish way. But they are not dumb, only small. Today, in our fast world, young people can understand a lot of things even better than we do and they notice much more around themselves than we used to. They live together with the internet, speak several languages and the world really opens up for them.
You have not only transcribed the opera but will also conduct it. How was your cooperation with the director János Novák.
It was not an easy start because we both had a definite idea about what we wanted to get out of the opera, but eventually we formed an excellent cooperation. We managed to adjust the two versions to fit each other. I really, really like what János Novák came up with. It is an interesting performance and I am very curious about the first reactions.
And how did you use Wagner?s motifs as a composer?
I had to reduce everything. The Festival Theatre cannot accommodate more than 32 musicians, which is actually the right orchestra size for a Mozart opera, and this gave me the idea to read the score as if it had been Mozart. I chose Mozart voices when picking the singers, except for the soprano who sings Elsa because she is the only one whose voice has to reflect the development of her personality. With a little exaggeration, one can say that from a Mozart singer she must become a dramatic soprano by the end of the play. It was not easy to find someone but I eventually did find the singer who had such a fantastic ability. Agnes Szalai, a member of the National Choir, a recent graduate. She has an incredible voice and energy and everything the conductor asks of her she can do immediately. All the participants are young and during the selection process I paid special attention to make sure that related voices should sound well together. Tibor Szappanos?s Lohengrin very well matches Elsa and Ágnes Szalai?s voice also goes excellently with Lúcia Schwartz Megyesi who sings Ortrud.
You will perform the Knight of the Swan twice. Will there be a sequel?
We?ll see how audiences like the production. Regardless of that, however, I have a dream. Even though I have not received a commission, I started working on my next Wagner transcription. The Mastersingers of Nuremberg. And that?s not much different from an X-factor talent search show.
Over the recent weeks, you conducted eight Manon Lescaut performances at the Opera House but other than that, you are rarely seen at home these days?.
A conductor will always be wherever they invite him to. Even though I also sometimes notice that my name has somehow been forgotten at home. I am only interested in those opportunities when quality work is produced with prudent efforts. I do not hesitate if I receive such an opportunity. I am laid-back back enough to choose life in my home country rather than abroad even if I feel alright there. But this does not only depend on me.
You are very popular at the Zurich opera.
I have a good life there considering that I have been working in the Swiss opera theatre for five years and am now a permanent member. I have already been invited to return in the next season, for two premieres. I will conduct Rossini?s The Silken Ladder and a contemporary opera entitled Die Stadt der Blinden. Additionally, I will conduct Carmen. There will be nearly 20 performances which is a huge number considering that a conductor on average is featured on five or six nights per season in this theatre. In addition, I conduct these days in Salzburg, Frankfurt and more recently in Göteborg. I had a La boh?me premiere at the Swedish opera and in the next season there will be a premier of The Barber of Seville. I will conduct The Knight of the Rose in Germany. So fortunately there are quite a few invitations I receive. And I was happy to be able to play a habilitation concert in the spring at home, of Liszt?s Christus oratorio, which means that I now have the doctorate.
You said a year and a half ago that a love story had ended and you had to get over it, referring to your departure from the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra. Do you still miss that workshop-like activity and the creation of an orchestra that you participated in for ten years?
I also think about this issue that one will always do whatever they are invited to. Being a guest conductor is very different from developing an orchestra at a fixed location. At the beginning of my career, I lived as a travelling conductor for a long time and learnt everything one needs to know to fulfil that task. Then for ten years I lived in Pécs I think I learnt very well how to build up an orchestra. So I can say that life has spoilt me and I had the opportunity to do different things at different times. And looking at what goes on in Hungary these days under the slogan of building an orchestra, I can only say that it is not the right way and that?s not how it should be done.
Do you miss concerts at home?
When in Pécs, I made a self-limiting decision that nobody understood but I still think it was the right decision. I said that as long as I work there, I will not undertake concerts with other orchestras. A good leading conductor will fight like a lion for his musicians and this can create a conflict of interests with the members of other orchestras. With that decision I ousted myself from the music scene in Hungary and concurrently I got a permanent job in Switzerland. On top of that, there has been a huge restructuring in musical life in Hungary in the past five to ten years and I was never one to step on anyone?s toes. I am not longing for a post that somebody else has already filled. As a result, I do not have a place here but I don?t consider that a tragedy. Thank God, there are many talented conductors in this country. But if there is a place where they need me, then I am looking forward to doing the job. I am not collecting titles or ranks and not hungry for concerts. Luckily, life does not force me to sell out my ideals for a few cents.
Interviewer: Zsuzsanna Réfi / Photo: Bence Kovács
