150 years of the Liszt Academy
150 YEARS OF THE FOUNTAIN OF MUSIC
150 years ago, in 1875, our country’s first and unique higher music education institution opened its doors under the name National Royal Hungarian Academy of Music, with Ferenc Liszt as President and Ferenc Erkel as Director. The institution soon became an internationally renowned citadel of Hungary’s music education, and has maintained its high standards over the decades. On the occasion of our anniversary, a series of lectures and legendary concerts will once again be staged within the walls of the Music Palace, and with this exhibition we will recall the past and present of this diverse institution, the University and Concert Centre, and provide an insight into all the eras of the Academy’s history through the memories of the generations of musicians who grew up here. World-famous musicians who have performed in our concert halls and taught in our classrooms, outstanding teachers who have worked for the flourishing of Hungarian music and the development of future generations, as well as their students testify to what the Liszt Academy has given them.
THE BEGINNINGS (1875–1907)
In creating the Academy, Ferenc Liszt received substantial support from Ferenc Erkel, the first Director of the institution, to be succeeded by Ödön Mihalovich, who held the post for 32 years, longer than anyone else.
Ferenc Liszt (1875–1886)
“I will perform my duties conscientiously, to the best of my ability, for the benefit and glory of our country. In this respect, my personal toil and inconvenience shall not count...”
- Letter from Ferenc Liszt to Antal Augusz (21 September 1875)
Ferenc Erkel (1875–1887)
“In terms of pedagogy, I have never known a more strict, conscientious and dutiful teacher. [...] F[erenc] Liszt, the great master, came every year for 2-3 months to lead the army, but Ferenc Erkel was the one who had to worry about the details of discipline and order for the rest of the years.”
- Kornél Ábrányi Sr.: Erkel Ferenc élete és működése [The Life and Work of Ferenc Liszt]. Budapest: József Schunda V., 1895.
Ödön Mihalovich (1887–1919)
“I consider it the greatest reward of my work that I have always enjoyed the trust and love of the teaching staff. I hope you will continue to keep me in your sympathetic memory and pass on the trust and affection you have for me to the new headmaster...”
- Géza Moravcsik (ed.): Az Országos M. Kir. Zeneművészeti Főiskola Évkönyve az 1919/20-iki tanévről [Yearbook of the Hungarian National College of Music for the 1919/1920 Academic Year]. Budapest: Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, 1920.
THE LISZT ACADEMY IN THE TURBULENT DECADES OF THE 20TH CENTURY (1919–1957)
An art school is famous not only for its leaders but also for its teachers and students. The Liszt Academy’s first world-famous student was Ernő Dohnányi. Jenő Hubay, violinist and composer, gave up his post as professor in Brussels at Liszt’s invitation – he later handed over the chair of the Violin Department to Ede Zathureczky, who then led the institution for 12 years.
Ernő Dohnányi, pianist and composer (1919 and 1934–1943)
“Our institute bears the name of Ferenc Liszt in its title. This name is no vain pomp, but a stern warning. Ferenc Liszt is the finest example of artistic and human greatness.”
- Dr Kálmán Isoz (ed.): Az Országos Magyar Királyi Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Főiskola évkönyve az 1934/35-iki tanévről [Yearbook of the National Royal Hungarian Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music for the 1934/35 Academic Year]. Budapest: Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, 1935.
Jenő Hubay, violinist and composer (1919–1934)
“Since I took over the leadership and direction of this great institute, one aspiration has permeated all my actions: the development of Hungarian music on a national basis. Such development must keep pace with progressive art in accordance with the spirit of the times, but I am convinced that the artistic characteristics of our nation... must be more and more strongly expressed and brought to the fore in our music.”
N.N.: Hubay Jenő az ötven éves Zeneakadémiáról [Jenő Hubay on the 50th Anniversary of the Liszt Academy]. Világ XVI/90 (22 April 1925).
Ede Zathureczky, violinist (1943–1957)
“Zathureczky not only headed the violin department, but also inherited the Director-General’s chair from Dohnányi; he lived on the third floor of the Liszt Academy, in the director-general’s official residence. He also gave his lessons there. He taught every single day, 3 to 4 students at a time. He required his students to attend as many of each other's lessons as possible. He was a charismatic personality, an excellent artist and teacher.”
- György Pauk: Négy húron pendülök. Nyolcvan év emlékei [Dancing on Four Strings. Eighty Years of Memories]. Budapest: Park Könyvkiadó, 2016.
FROM COLLEGE TO UNIVERSITY (1957–1994)
On 1 September 1957, the College was taken over by a three-member Board of Governors chaired by Bence Szabolcsi. A year later, the composer Ferenc Szabó, who had studied with Leó Weiner, Albert Siklós and Kodály, was appointed Director; his successor as Rector was the violinist Dénes Kovács. In the 1980s, the musicologist József Ujfalussy and the composer József Soproni took over the rectorship.
Ferenc Szabó, composer (1958–1967)
“Within our walls there were people who were deceived or intimidated, but those who thought humanely and honestly were so much in the majority that even in the darkest hours of the Arrow Cross reign of terror nothing happened within the walls of our college that should make us blush with shame or guilt today.”
- Ferenc Szabó: Kilencven esztendő határán. A Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Főiskola jubileuma [On the Boundary of Ninety Years. The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music]. Magyar Zene VI/6 (1 December 1965).
Dénes Kovács, violinist (1967–1980)
“The great talents that have emerged in succession have vindicated all those who had long ago believed that we were capable of more and believed that our people and our culture would live up to those of the cultured European countries.”
- Dénes Kovács: Kovács Dénes rektor ünnepi beszéde [Ceremonial Speech by President Dénes Kovács]. Parlando XVIII/1 (January 1976).
József Ujfalussy musicologist, music aesthete (1980–1988)
“Leading an internationally renowned institution with such a great history is a great responsibility. I accepted it only after much persuasion, and when my term of office came to an end, I felt that I had recovered from the presidency.”
- Miklós Locsmándi: Interview with József Ujfalussy, Former President of the Liszt Academy. www.locsmandimiklos.hu (2000).
József Soproni, composer (1988–1994)
“Good teaching cannot be a recital of textbooks, it is quite different from that: it is nothing other than complete self-giving.”
- Gizella Serhók-Sulyok: Beszélgetés a zenéről, a zenepedagógiáról Soproni József zeneszerzővel [Conversation About Music and Music Education with Composer József Soproni]. Parlando XXI/9 (September 1979).
FROM THE REGIME CHANGE TO THE PRESENT (1994–2024)
In the 1990s, pianists István Lantos and Sándor Falvai took over the presidency, followed by musicologist András Batta in 2004 and harpist Andrea Vigh in 2013. The Art Nouveau Palace of Music reopened its doors on 22 October 2013, Liszt’s birthday, under the slogan ‘the dawn of a new era’.
István Lantos, pianist (1994–1997)
“Today, a Hungarian musician is still held in high esteem. We owe this primarily to our world-famous masters, Liszt, Bartók, Kodály, Dohnányi and others. To this day, we still live from their legacy, and it is our duty to preserve and pass it on.”
- Márton Devich: Amikor minden »zaj« elcsendesedik. Lantos István, a Zeneakadémia rektora szellemi megújhodást vár az intézmény életében [István Lantos, President of the Liszt Academy, Expects an Intellectual Renewal in the Life of the Institution]. Magyar Nemzet LVII/230 (1 October 1994).
Sándor Falvai pianist (1997–2004)
“... my goal is to ensure that in these difficult years for all of us the college remains on its feet and begins a slow process of construction and development – as the circumstances allow.”
- Márton Devich: Talpon maradni és lassan építkezni: Falvai Sándor zongoraművész, a Zeneakadémia rektora a Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Főiskola jelenéről és jövőjéről [Survive and Build Slowly]. Muzsika XLII/6 (1 June 1999).
András Batta musicologist (2004–2013)
“In the past, it was always the case that a very prominent, outstanding artist was the hallmark of the Liszt Academy, which is of course a wonderful thing, but it was not enough for my time. The name was not enough, this institution had to be managed. I was able to represent the Academy authentically because I grew up here, I became a teacher here, I belong here.”
- Károly Mágó: Ma nincs Kodályhoz hasonló megmondóember [We Have No Opinion Setter Like Kodály – Interview with Dr. András Batta]. origo.hu (6 May 2017).
Andrea Vigh harpist (2013-2023)
"... the secret of the freshness and youthfulness of the institution is that we embrace contemporary music, and we educate our musicians to play the works of their contemporaries, to talk about them, to share them with their peers. [...] Here, tradition and innovation go hand in hand."
- Adrienn Csepelyi: “Ezt örököltük: nem törünk össze, nem maradunk a padlón, akármi történjék is [We Inherited This: We Will Not Break Down, We Will Not Stay on the Floor, No Matter What Happens]” – Interview with Dr. Andrea Vigh, President of the Liszt Academy. wmn.hu (15 May 2021).
LEGENDARY PIANO TEACHER–STUDENT PAIRS 1.
Over the past 150 years, the Liszt Academy has been elevated to the top ranks of musical institutions by renowned teacher–scholar duos. From Ferenc Liszt to Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály to György Kurtág, many world-famous musicians have studied and taught within its walls. The recollections of former students bring to life the working methods of their legendary masters, the traits of their personalities that enabled them to transmit the best of their knowledge and artistry.
1. István Thomán on Ferenc Liszt
“The only time Liszt was strict in his teaching, and took teaching seriously when he had a talented student.”
- György Ferenczy: Pianoforte. Budapest: Héttorony Kiadó, 1989.
2. Béla Bartók on István Thomán
“For such work, patience and effort alone are not enough; it takes a harmonious combination of great care, delicate tact, deep love of humanity and great expertise to achieve the results [...] of István Thomán.”
- Béla Bartók: Thomán Istvánról [On István Thomán]. Zenei Szemle XI/3 (January 1927).
3. Károly Váczi on Ernő Dohnányi
“Playing the piece was the most characteristic method of his teaching. Indeed, at that stage, he did not have to teach the hand position and fingering very much. When he played the piano, we tried to learn his ‘mechanism’, his key touch – which was, of course, inimitable. His lessons were unforgettable.”
- Ilona Kovács: A Dohnányi-metodika (2.). Beszélgetés Váczi Károly zongoraművésszel [The Dohnányi Method (2.). Interview with Károly Váczi, Pianist]. Parlando XLVI/4 (2004).
4. Lajos Hernádi on Béla Bartók
“Without Bartók wanting to ‘impose’ his own personality on his students, the suggestiveness that emanated from him made it happen to all his students, albeit unwittingly.”
- Lajos Hernádi: Bartók Béla, a zongoraművész, a pedagógus, az ember [Béla Bartók, the Pianist, the Teacher, the Man]. New Music Review IV/9 (September 1953).
5. Zoltán Kocsis on Pál Kadosa
“He taught music and not piano playing. [...] Kadosa told us very concisely and briefly what would be good, he pointed out the relationship between two or three notes, and in some cases this was worth more than a long, wordy explanation. [...] The most significant aspect of his pedagogical work was that he was a composer to the core. A composer is a creative person, with a more vivid and lively relationship with sound than someone who is ‘only’ a performer.”
- Mária Albert: Száz esztendeje született Kadosa Pál [Pál Kadosa Was Born a Hundred Years Ago]. Muzsika XLVI/9 (1 September 2003).
6. Pianist István Lantos on his pianist predecessors
“Dohnányi casually showed us how to do it. Péter Solymos was a Dohnányi student, and I took a lot of things from him. I was very close to pianist Kornél Zempléni, who also studied with Ernő Dohnányi in the 1940s. I must also mention Annie Fischer’s name here. What charismatic teachers we had in the first half of the 20th century! But even in the 1960s and 1970s, it was a great experience to learn from the old masters, who had accumulated a wealth of experience throughout their careers.”
- Ida Tóth: A zenéhez lelkileg kell kapcsolódni – beszélgetés Lantos István zongoraművésszel [Connect Your Soul to the Music – Interview with Pianist István Lantos]. fidelio.hu (28 November 2023).
LEGENDARY STRINGS TEACHER–STUDENT PAIRS 2.
1. János Starker on Leó Weiner
“Weiner taught us to hear and helped us to recognise the means of making music. He taught us that every note in music counts. He taught us the discipline of respecting the composer’s intentions as the first requirement, and only then can our individual, interpretive thoughts follow.”
- Péter Halász: Starker János. In: Nagy tanárok, híres tanítványok. 125 éves a Zeneakadémia [Great Teachers, Famous Students. 125 Years of the Liszt Academy]. Ágnes Gádor – Gábor Szirányi (ed.). Budapest: Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, 2000.
2. Eszter Perényi on Dénes Kovács
“With his wonderful, beautiful, expressive violin sound, he played masterpieces from different eras with unparalleled simplicity and dignity, his playing always had a magical effect on the audience, his clear, straightforward voice is inimitable. [...] In his teaching, too, he always taught humility in the face of the work, the composer’s intention was the most important thing, and self-serving, unprincipled individualism was alien to him. [...] He studied with excellent masters, Dezső Rados and the world-famous Hubay School’s outstanding Ede Zathureczky, whom he always remembered with great affection.”
- Eszter Perényi: Kovács Dénes 1930–2005. Parlando XLVII/3 (2005).
3. Dénes Kovács on Ede Zathureczky
“He dealt with everyone differently. He was a sensitive person, so he instinctively looked for the most harmonious form of contact. [...] He made his students understand that art and music are inseparable from eternal learning, eternal search, and that this is as never-ending a process as the movement of nature.”
- János Kárpáti: A Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Főiskola 100 éve [100 Years of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music]. Muzsika XVIII/11 (November 1975).
4. Sándor Végh on Waldbauer and his string quartet
“[…] he also showed me how to create different types of sound on the violin. In this he was the most perfect of them all. [...] At the same time, Jenő Kerpely was a great help to Waldbauer. Apart from Casals, I have never heard a cellist who played from such depth as Kerpely. It was the combination and balancing of the two that gave the Waldbauer Quartet its special flavour. It is a sound that will stay with me forever, and with all who heard them.”
- Zoltán Farkas: Száz éve született Waldbauer Imre [Imre Waldbauer Was Born a Hundred Years Ago]. Muzsika XXXV/5 (1 May 1992).
5. Gábor Takács-Nagy on Sándor Devich and András Mihály
“Professor [Devich’s] sparklingly humorous remarks fed me more and more ‘vitamins’, helped me to understand the piece with more and more nuances. [...] He tried to make us understand that not a single note of the score should be treated as a ‘museum object’[BJ3] . Everything here moves or sings, speaks, dances. [...] Eternal gratitude to Sándor Devich and András Mihály: for them, the primary source of danger in a performance was not the occasional minor technical error that crept in, but the false and impersonal conveyance of the spiritual and emotional values of the piece’s content. What freedom we have been given! We never became slaves to perfectionism.”
- Gábor Takács-Nagy: Művész, tanár, barát. Devich Sándor 70 éves [Artist, teacher, friend. Sándor Devich turns 70] Muzsika XLVIII/1 (1 January 2005).
6. Miklós Zsámboki on Dávid Popper
“His students were enthusiastic about him and loved him like their father. His sparkling eyes, his velvety gaze were signs of a benevolent, good-natured man. His wit made education as charming as it was exciting. […] At a high note he would encourage the student thus, ‘Up, up, boldly, my dear child, no grass can grow there!’ He criticised the performance of a lullaby as follows: ‘It is not yet a lullaby, it has only put my right leg to sleep.’”
- Miklós Rakos: Popper Dávid, Zenekar XX/5 (2013).
LEGENDARY MUSICOLOGIST TEACHER–STUDENT PAIRS 3.
1. Ferenc Fricsay on his years at the Liszt Academy
“Kodály gave wonderful lessons in the art of composition. We were happy to go to Leó Weiner’s chamber music lessons. Whenever we could, we would also sneak into Bartók’s piano lessons. [...] I don’t know which other college in this century has ever been able to offer such a high quality education.”
- Márton Karczag (ed.): Akit a zene éltetett. Fricsay 100 [Who Was Inspired by Music. Fricsay 100]. Opera, Budapest, 2014.
2. Lajos Bárdos on Zoltán Kodály
“How much our musical life owes to his work as a teacher, composer and musicologist is truly inestimable. From the very beginning of his career, he fought with all his strength for the musical advancement of the country, and he continues to fight tirelessly today. During his years as a teacher at the Liszt Academy, he taught eight different subjects, seven of which he initiated and developed himself in connection with the promotion of the new singing movement.”
- Lilla Gábor: Kodály pedagógiájának nyomában [A Study of Kodály’s Teaching]. kodalyhub.hu (1977)
3. György Ligeti on Ferenc Farkas
“He did not actively teach, but rather corrected my works on music paper, using only red pencil notations, and I had to revise them until the last red pencil entry disappeared.”
- György Ligeti: Tudomány, zene és politika között [Between Science, Music and Politics] In Ligeti György válogatott írásai. Márton Kerékfy (trans. and ed.). Budapest: Rózsavölgyi & Társa, 2010.
4. György Kroó on Bence Szabolcsi
“Whenever we were near him, we listened to his lectures at the Liszt Academy, listened to his soft, quiet speech, and felt that we were part of a world current while he played the piano.”
- György Kroó: Meghalt Szabolcsi Bence [Bencze Szabolcsi Dies] Muzsika XVI/3 (1 March 1973)
5. László Somfai on Dénes Bartha
"We had more suggestive, fanaticising teachers, who unveiled to us secrets about music then and there: Bence Szabplcsi in the first place, along with Lajos Bárdos. And as schoolyears came and went, so did our idolized teachers, but there were always great discoveries (among those no longer with us, for example Rezső Kókai). But the methods and techniques of musicology, the writing of studies and books, at least in my time, were probably best taught by Dénes Bartha - even if one realises this only in retrospect. With the sobriety of a good teacher, he did not mystify music, he did not address throwaway remarks to the better educated, he did not make us feel the extent of our overwhelming ignorance and stupidity."
- László Somfai: Dénes Bartha turns seventy (Bartha Dénes 70 éves) Hungarian Music XIX/3 (1 September 1978), 279.
6. Zoltán Kocsis on György Kurtág
"He is not interested in who is world-famous, who is known, he is interested in human and artistic truths. For Kurtág it makes no difference who conveys an artistic value, the important thing is that it is valuable to him."
- Zoltán András Bán: Megastars singing Bartók - Zoltán Kocsis, pianist, conductor (Bartókot daloló megasztárok – Kocsis Zoltán zongoraművész, karmester) Magyar Narancs (24 Nov 2005)
LEGENDARY MOMENTS 1.
"The faithful can feel in a church the way I felt whenever I entered the doors of the Academy. I always felt a sense of awe, but also a sense of intimacy. You'd walk up the stairs and you’d be confronted by Kodály, Weiner or Zathureczky... Unlike in a church, here you felt that God himself was coming to meet you, and even greet you back... I think that spirit no longer exists anywhere in the world. Times have changed, the style is different now.”
- György Pauk: Négy húron pendülök. Nyolcvan év emlékei [Dancing [BJ6] on Four Strings. Eighty Years of Memories]. Budapest: Park Könyvkiadó, 2016.
Concerts:
14 November 1875 – First concert ‘arranged’ by the Liszt Academy.
14 March 1880 – First concert at the Old Academy of Music
12–15 May 1907 – Opening of the Liszt Square building
14 November 1925 – Jubilee concert to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Liszt Academy
8 October 1940 – Farewell concert by Béla Bartók and Ditta Pásztory[BJ7]
17 March 1945 – First concert after the siege of Budapest – János Ferencsik and the Orchestra of the Capital
LEGENDARY MOMENTS 2.
Concerts:
16 May 1954 – Zoltán Kodály at the Liszt Academy
20 September 1958 – Yehudi Menuhin’s solo recital
15 December 1966 – Kodály on his 83rd birthday with Shostakovich in the President’s Box
13 June 1980 – Tchaikovsky–Rachmaninov recital by Sviatoslav Richter
14 November 1983 – Masterclass by Leonard Bernstein in the Grand Hall
26 December 1983 – Founding concert of the Budapest Festival Orchestra
Source of images: Képek forrása: Budapesti Fesztiválzenekar; Fortepan; HUN-REN BTK Zenetudományi Intézet; Magyar Zene Háza; Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Közgyűjteményi Központ, Országos Széchényi Könyvtár; Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem