What does it really take of one to choose the classical music over the contemporary as a preference? Is it the same as saying, “I’d prefer a finely aged vintage port over a freshly brewed craft beer?” The Imperial Hotel organised a recital by Zoltán Fejérvári, a highly regarded pianist from Hungary. Having played solo recitals in various parts of Europe and the United States, and performed with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Hungarian National Orchestra, he brought to Nostalgia, the European restaurant at the hotel, Beethoven’s Sonata in C Major and Kodály: Dances from Marosszék for Chamber Music enthusiasts living in the Capital.
“I was always surrounded by instruments since I belonged to a family of musicians — they were a part of the normalcy of life at home,” began Zoltán. But, out of all the instruments, why the piano? “It was always there, I didn’t have to tune it or anything. It just invited me to play,” he answered humbly. At the age of eight Zoltán had been enrolled into music school, where he ascertained that reading music came naturally to him; but, it was at the age of fifteen — the age when Hungarian musicians must attend Conservatory (music school for the pursuers) — that he began to practice rigorously. “And, by the time I was 18,” Zoltán added, “I was in Budapest, at the Listz Academy of Music, and I was attending concerts.”
Zoltán is among the proud pianists that have performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie’s Weill Hall in New York, the Paul de Música in Valencia and Gasteig in Munich. And he’s worked with musicians such as Gary Hoffman and Josheph Lin, to name a few. Post all this experience of varying kinds, he’s learnt some philosophies which guide his performance on stage, out of which he shared a simple yet beautiful one, “It is only possible if you have faith, unlike the religious kind, it’s a strong belief in what you do, in the music you play,” and paradoxically he used the Bible for elucidation, “It’s like how Jesus walked on water, if you believe then you walk on that water, and if you don’t, you sink.” He laughed at that closing word, and substantiated the air of comfort about him.
“What music do I listen to? Let me think about that...” he wondered, making it rather strange since one would assume that he’d instantly blurt out a long list of names, “I like Jazz, specifically from the 20th century, but that’s strictly for when I’m alone. I listen to classical Viennese pieces, pieces from different periods like Renaissance, Romantic and also those of the Baroque style.” And to complete surprise he added, “I like some others like the Beatles and Queen, other than Beethoven, Schubert and Béla Batók. The rest escape my mind right now,” he laughed again as he added that final remark.
Zoltán won the 2017 Concours Musical International de Montréal for piano as well as was the recipient of the honoured Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. And, among the things he enjoys most, besides the piano, he enlisted: “I still enjoy watching DVDs or even old tapes on my VCR. And, I love playing Lego with my two sons. I used to love Lego as a kid, it’s lovely to return to them after so long. I even love my cat and my dog, their company is always a cheerful pleasure.” He also went on to tell about how he always makes it a point to catch up on reading, and among his favourites are Fyodor Dostoevsky, Milan Kundera, Herman Hesse and Thomas Mann. Zoltán likes the silence that is offered by villages until they become too oppressive, which is why he’s settled within an hour’s distance from the city.
The concert with Zoltán was a completion of the whole idea behind the restaurant, with its Steinway grand piano, of a journey into a classical space; it is an effort to create something that a selective few truly crave for in Delhi. And this brought about the question of numbers, where in the world did Zoltán come across the largest reception for Chamber Music? To which Zoltán answered without a second thought, “Germany, its rather heart warming to see how a majority of their towns have a Chamber Music series, thus there is some Chamber Music here or there in Germany all year round.”
“Music for me is the classical, it is the language I understand.” Said Zoltán as he continued with the conversation, and then went on to close with a thought that has stayed on with him since his academy days at Listz, where today he teaches Chamber Music, “My teacher, Andras Kemenes, I liked him, there was just this way about him and this one particular thing he’d teach everyone: you can’t lie on stage, never. It is on the stage that the musician must be the most honest of all.”
