Recollections of the teaching of György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados

How did you come into contact with György Kurtág? When did you work together, when did he teach you? 

I am connected to György Kurtág through multigenerational family ties. He knew my grandfather, composer Csaba Szabó and held him in high regard, he taught my father, Péter Szabó at the Bartók Seminar and in the Academy of Music, while he has regularly listened to me playing since 2018. The “ante” was Bach of course, in Márta’s presence, when I first had the opportunity to play for him. One was only “allowed” to deal with the Professor’s works as well after that. Since then, I am proud to say, that he has composed and dedicated works for me, and beside the bespoke composition, we have worked on further Bach and Beethoven pieces together.

What does György Kurtág’s art and teaching mean to you and how has it influenced your career?

In my experience once you intensely familiarized yourself with Kurtág works, you will hear all music in a different way. Collaborating with the Professor further deepened my attitude established by Rita Wagner and Rados, only in different ways, with different wording: that the environment, connection and relation of the sounds will have a discernible system at all times, regardless of what kind of music we are playing. Just as we know there is gravity at work on Earth, we have similar basic principles regarding sounds too. To seek out, recognize and listen to these in an uncompromising, loving, patient, persistent way, in true faith, that’s the legacy I was given by Professor Kurtág, which I cherish and do my best to pass along, to work and to live by.

If you can, please recall a memorable situation and how he taught certain musical works and what you learned from him during your collaboration! 

To grow to like the bow frog. “And when I say…” ” Beethoven corrects himself.” — ie. in his sonata in C major, Op. 102, No. 1. “Sing it where you don’t have any voice left.” Sordino is for playing at “normal” volume. “The gateway to ecstasy” — for Beethoven’s cello sonata in A major, Op. 69, first movement. “The race is on with the cello: who can play a nicer legato.” About his own work: “It’s not an easy piece… I thought it would be much worse.” But one could keep on quoting his countless adages, including but not limited to these few titbits…

Do you have a characteristic, memorable, instructive or funny story about your joint work that you would like to share?

It’s quite characteristic of him that well into his 90s the Professor said he didn’t know the cello enough to try enough possibilities. So we had a fingerboard made for him, marking each note and position. Another typical example was when he finished his first opera, and I asked him: “What next?” He took a long time to ponder and then replied: “Now I have to rewrite the whole thing.” One of my most memorable visits happened without my cello. The Professor made me promise to pop in to have his dedication signed on my sheet music to have it as my own piece (In memoriam György Maros). I could hear someone was still inside with him, so I didn’t want to impose but he invited me in, so I stayed having a conversation with him and Krasznahorkai…

How did you come into contact with Ferenc Rados? When did you work together, when did he teach you? What was the institutional framework for your encounter?

In Prussia Cove, at a concert. That’s where I worked with him for the first time too, we rehearsed and performed Schumann’s Trio in G minor. As he had taught my parents at the Academy of Music I was brought up on Rados’ expressions and anecdotes, for that matter. And let me also mention that Rita Wagner was one of my favourite mentors for years.

If you can, please recall a memorable situation (or more) and how he taught certain musical works and what you learned from him during your collaboration! 

Before starting the Schumann rehearsals I went out of my way to make sure the American violinist, who met Rados for the first time there and then, won’t comment on the piece being “beautiful”.  He was holding out for quite a while, but one day it burst out of him eventually. I feared that Rados would start mocking him, but we were served with a contemplative tutorial instead, to be remembered for life, about what beauty was and how the meaning of the word “romantic” had changed over time… All this only confirmed my view that due to the violinist showing genuine enthusiasm and admiration towards the music and not being confined to a mere superficial “beauty”, Rados could hold back from bursting into an unbridled fit of laughter, nor did he reply in a cynical manner.

Do you have a characteristic, memorable, instructive or funny story about your joint work that you would like to share?

As for the Schumann Trio in G minor, the scherzo happened to be very slow during the first couple of days, about which I went and “complained” to Rita néni, and after that, the third day brought back the original nimble tempo. I asked him: “What happened, Professor?” And he said: “Rita told me not to take a holiday on every dissonance.” To which I told him that this subject came up so many times that we could just as well play a “holiday” version too. Loud laughter followed. “Yes, I might also play it the way I want to, for once.”