Recollections of the teaching of György Kurtág

From note to note

I have known György Kurtág for more than thirty years. I happened to be present at a performance of the Kafka Fragments at the Berliner Philharmonie. The music completely took me and captivated me then. Shortly after that, the indendant of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra of the time, Elmar Weingarten asked me if I could take over performing the Kafka Fragments with András Keller on a short deadline, and I immediately said yes.

I met Kurtág in 1993 at the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin, where he stayed with a scholarship between 1993-1995 and 1998-1999. We started to work together right away, and got on very well immediately. Kurtág and his music had great influence on me over my whole career, and, indeed, my whole life. He completely changed my entire outlook on music. I immediately felt that he had got extraordinarily close to knowing the innermost essence of music. This I had not before experienced with virtually anyone else.

What is more, this harmony has existed between us all throughout the past decades. This is why we could work so closely together on his second opera – on Die Stechardin for soprano and orchestra, which was premiered on 20th February 2026 –, since, in fact, I speak the same musical language as he does. This is a language which we now speak together.

Kurtág explores with incredible precision even the way leading from note to note! His sensitivity and unyielding intensity are not endured by every musician. Already at taking a breath, before you could sing a single note, Kurtág might say, “No, no, this will not do, try again”. It may take half an hour before you reach the note itself. Very few tolerate it. It is often said that it is terribly difficult to work with him, that he is incredibly strict.

We, however, understand each other very well. It is a really special, similar musical sensitivity, a sort of spiritual familiarity that we share. It springs from shared insight into what music may truly be. What happens in a single note, what happens between two notes? This attention to the tiniest details is the decisive factor. The attention to every single note from its very beginning to its end, passing from note to note. And it yields plenty to do right away.

It is astonishing, but it always turns out that Kurtág is right. He simply is always right. However uncomfortable what he says may be, you know precisely: it is right. And this is exactly what makes working together with him so amazing, such a thrilling existential experience. Of course, it is difficult, and I am completely exhausted after the rehearsals. However, it leads to ingenius insight, and to feel, experience it is the greatest gift. Though, naturally, one must be able to accept it, one must grow into it.

Kurtág is rarely satisfied. He almost never praises, but this is not even the point. The point is always just the music: when does it come to be and when does it not?