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| György Pauk |
Pauk said that even though Solti enjoyed a great degree of international fame, he continuously supported young talent. The violinist recalled his own introduction to Solti, by the great patron of the arts Sir Nicholas Sekers, born Miklós Szekeres, at the beginning of the 1960s.
?Sekers emigrated from Budapest to the north of England in 1937. There he established a silk factory that was very successful. He also became perhaps one of Great Britain?s greatest supporters of the arts. He made his name as the chairman or board member of many cultural institutions, from the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden to the London Philharmonic,? Pauk said.
Pauk left Budapest in 1956 for The Netherlands, and he arrived in London in 1961. Sekers bought the young musician an instrument.
?He got together his rich friends and they bought me a high quality Italian instrument. He decided as well to introduce me to György Solti, who was already musical director in Covent Garden, but also regularly conducted concerts, for example of the London Philharmonic,? Pauk said.
Taking the Glyndebourne Festival as an example, Sekers established his own summer arts centre. He converted an old stables in the north of England and opened the Rosehill Theatre there in 1959. The theatre drew such world famous musicians as Yehudi Menuhin, Clifford Curzon, the Tátrai Quartet, Peggy Ashcroft, Victoria de los Angeles and Sviatoslav Richter. Members of the royal family also attended performances at the theatre.
Sekers invited Solti to the theatre to direct the Mozart Players chamber orchestra. Pauk was asked to be the soloist at the concert, which marked the beginning of a close artistic and personal friendship. Solti invited Pauk and his wife to Bayreuth, where he finally agreed to conduct The Ring.
?The work in Bayreuth lasted just a year, because the direction by Peter Hall got very bad reviews, and this hurt Solti,? Pauk said.
When Solti left Covent Garden in 1969 for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, his first step was to invite Pauk.
?I can thank him for my American premiere,? he said.
?Because Solti rediscovered his Hungarian roots in the last years of his life, and this was reinforced by his wife, Valerie, after his death [in 1992], his widow offered money to the Academy of Music in Budapest, for the renovation of the small hall. She established, with her daughters the International Solti Foundation and the Liszt Network, in which former British ambassador to Hungary Nigel Thorpe and Katalin Bogyay also played a significant role,? Pauk said.
?The Liszt Network, in which I am an active member, gives support to Hungarians who started their studies at home but who have been accepted by an institution of higher education in the UK. My student Júlia Pusker, of whom I am very proud, won 9,000 pounds of support for two years,? he added.
Hungary, with the support of the UK, is celebrating the hundredth anniversary of Solti?s birth is being celebrated this year under a resolution by UNESCO?s 36th General Conference.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
