Every year, Fort Worth plays host to the Piano Texas, an international academy and festival for pianists (www.pianotexas.org). This year, one of the fastest emerging talents of the Hungarian music scene, Éva Polgár, has been invited to play.
Éva graduated from the Liszt Ferenc Academy in Budapest, and then the Helsinki Academy, where she played the Beethoven Third Concerto as her graduation piece under Okko Kamu. The Texas Festival runs from June 6th; we spoke to her before she leaves.
Tell me about the plans for Texas – what’s happening there, and how long will it last?
It’ll be three weeks long, and while we’re there, musicians from 19 different countries will give concerts at night; plus, there will be concerts of guest artists as well – and not only the young artists, but the professors who give the “master classes” will show what they can do on stage. I always learn a lot from seeing the professors doing what they showed us to, and what they do and tell us how they do it… !
Solo performances only or concerto performances?
There will also be concerto performances, and from these the competition winner will be chosen. At the end of the three weeks, there will be a final competition – and for it we have to prepare a concerto for a jury, and it is them who will decide who will play in the final concert.
Your choice of concerto or theirs?
The Liszt Concerto No.2. It is one of my favorites, even if it is a bit difficult to play. I love it because everybody plays the first one – but you rarely hear the second one as a really good performance, in the manner that my teacher, Jenő Jandó, plays it. There is also a chamber music session in addition to the master class. Although there is a separate election to the chamber music part, I was fortunate enough to be elected there as well – and so, I’ll play the Mozart Quintet in G minor. (Éva was the pianist in a very fine performance of the Mozart last month at Magyar Kultúra Háza).
Other plans before you go?
There is a chamber music competition in Verona, Italy, in which I’ll take part with my flautist colleague, Ilona Plajner. (We recently had the pleasure of hearing Éva and Ilona playing together at a function at the British Embassy.) We’ll play a one-hour program ranging from baroque music to Prokofiev, and will give two concerts there, before we leave.
And when you come back?
Maybe a summer holiday. I hope so, but then there is a summer festival every year in Zebegény. I have been invited, again, to be a guest artist. It is my home town, and there are a lot of good musicians living there, so each year we present a light program for the locals, which we perform in the church – that is the only good venue! It makes it very special. Then suddenly it’s September again, and with the violinist Vilmos Szabadi, I’ll leave for Helsinki for interviews with Finnish musicians such as Okko Kamu, Olli Mustonen, and the director of the Music Academy, Gustav Djupsjöbacka. Whilst there, we want to make a documentary showing Finland as a musical country with a musical culture. So it will be, I think, a working holiday – again.