Seriously musical
Wellingtonian pianist and music lecturer Emma Sayers studied in Budapest and had some lessons with Nagy in New Zealand. She came away thinking deeply about what she was doing musically.
“He’s a serious musician but an engaging personality. It’s serious fun. He draws out both intellectual and character elements in the music and the students,” explains Sayers.
Nagy operates on a very deep level, typical of an intensely serious lineage of Hungarian pianists, says Sayers, “The things he’s playing are processed through a wide knowledge of music and of the world. It’s intense intellect combined with powerful emotional responses. It’s very real and very passionate.”
Sayers describes Hungarian compositions as dramatic, with a strong dance feel.
The Hungarian Rhapsodies tour programme covers two kinds of music, explains New Zealand String Quartet manager Elizabeth Kerr.
“One is the exotic gypsy music that composers such as Brahms and Beethoven would have heard in cafes in Vienna. The other is the music typical of the Bartók pieces. Bartók himself went into the Hungarian countryside and collected authentic folk music,” she says.
The Quartet’s lead violinist Helene Pohl went to Indiana University with Nagy and has forged a musical friendship with the pianist. She agrees the tour programme is colourful.
“Hungary is a crossroads between East and West Europe. There’s the German tradition as Hungary was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Then there’s the gypsy music and also folk music from surrounding regions like Romania, Bulgaria, as far as North Africa,” she explains.
Pohl is rapt to be playing with Nagy again and sharing the experience of being a conduit of great music.
“We get to step inside the Mona Lisa on a daily basis and be part of the creations of great minds.”
On the tour, piano solos by Liszt and Beethoven are combined with chamber works by Brahms, Bartók and contemporary Hungarian masters Ligeti and Dohnanyi.
Hungarian Rhapsodies, Hunter Council Chamber at Victoria University, 3pm September 4, 7.30pm September 5.









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