A Hungarian Musician Writes About His Country

[aeolium]

This is a depressing article by András Schiff about the state of his country's politics:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/11/hungarians-must-face-nazi-past-not-venerate-it

If they are burning the books of Miklós Radnóti, then surely those by Ferenc Molnár, Sándor Márai and Imre Kertész are at risk. And what would musicians like Lili Kraus and Solti (not to mention Bartók) have made of this ugly reversion?

[MrGongGong]

This is a depressing article by András Schiff about the state of his country's politics:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/11/hungarians-must-face-nazi-past-not-venerate-it

If they are burning the books of Miklós Radnóti, then surely those by Ferenc Molnár, Sándor Márai and Imre Kertész are at risk. And what would musicians like Lili Kraus and Solti (not to mention Bartók) have made of this ugly reversion?

Thanks for this
Those of us who have colleagues in Hungary have been hearing some really bad things for the last couple of years.
Even some of the most mainstream musical institutions are facing very serious problems from the new regime.
A sad time for many which hopefully will pass though in times of desperation some very unsavoury politics would seem to become very attractive.

[aeolium]

Actually it was the late Simon Howard, aka Julien Sorel, who first made me aware through a link on this forum about how bad things were getting in Hungary and I have been trying to follow up on developments since then.

[amateur51]

I have a British friend who lives there on & off and he has been telling me hair-raising stories for several years.

Dangerous times.

[Beef Oven!]

I spend a fair amount of time in Hungary, as do a few friends, including some who live there. Not really picked up on anything untoward, so need to keep a watching brief on this.

[MrGongGong]

I spend a fair amount of time in Hungary, as do a few friends, including some who live there. Not really picked up on anything untoward, so need to keep a watching brief on this.

hummm

Well given the kippers penchant for getting into bed with unsavoury nationalists i'm not sure that your 'friends' would think there was anything 'untoward'
be careful who you sleep with !

What my Hungarian colleagues say is most worrying is the popularity of the extremist politicians with the young as well as (sound familiar ?) bigotry hiding under the cloak of 'free speech' .

[Beef Oven!]

hummm

Well given the kippers penchant for getting into bed with unsavoury nationalists i'm not sure that your 'friends' would think there was anything 'untoward'
be careful who you sleep with !

What my Hungarian colleagues say is most worrying is the popularity of the extremist politicians with the young as well as (sound familiar ?) bigotry hiding under the cloak of 'free speech' .

None of my friends over there are 'Kippers' they are a diverse bunch, including a musician, a couple of homosexuals, two that bat for both sides, a wrestler and the British bloke is an ex-bareknuckle fighter from Hull who does not read the Guardian. Maybe we have too much fun to notice. Perhaps we should take the Gwerdian and keep in touch with reakity.

[eighthobstruction]

I spend a fair amount of time in Hungary, as do a few friends, including some who live there. Not really picked up on anything untoward, so need to keep a watching brief on this.

....is there any motivation that the beer is cheap....

[amateur51]

None of my friends over there are 'Kippers' they are a diverse bunch, including a musician, a couple of homosexuals, two that bat for both sides, a wrestler and the British bloke is an ex-bareknuckle fighter from Hull who does not read the Guardian. Maybe we have too much fun to notice. Perhaps we should take the Gwerdian and keep in touch with reakity.

Let's hope that your levity in the face of Schiff's piece is justified.

[Serial_Apologist]

hummm

Well given the kippers penchant for getting into bed with unsavoury nationalists i'm not sure that your 'friends' would think there was anything 'untoward'
be careful who you sleep with !

What my Hungarian colleagues say is most worrying is the popularity of the extremist politicians with the young as well as (sound familiar ?) bigotry hiding under the cloak of 'free speech' .

A Canadian, Hungarian-born friend whose family escaped when she was 7, following the Russian invasion of her country in 1956, and who regularly visits the country in order to keep an eye on a great great aunt of hers, now in her late 90s, confirms this view of what has been happening in Hungary through several years of economic decline now. She had previously been considering going back - not any more, she now says.

[Beef Oven!]

A Canadian, Hungarian-born friend whose family escaped when she was 7, following the Russian invasion of her country in 1956, and who regularly visits the country in order to keep an eye on a great great aunt of hers, now in her late 90s, confirms this view of what has been happening in Hungary through several years of economic decline now. She had previously been considering going back - not any more, she now says.

I would say that if she had ever been serious about going back, she would have already gone back. Don't know why people feel the need for excuses, conscience I suppose.

[Richard Barrett]

I would say that if she had ever been serious about going back, she would have already gone back.

Why? She might well have been considering going back when she retired, or something like that. What makes you so knowledgeable about her motivations? - especially since otherwise your insights haven't led you as far as noticing "anything untoward" going on in Hungarian society. If you don't like the Guardian here's an article about the Hungarian far right and its explicit antisemitism from the Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/hungary/10037188/Inside-the-far-Right-stronghold-where-Hungarian-Jews-fear-for-the-future.html

[MrGongGong]

Some other things

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Hungary-s-government-tightens-grip-on-arts/25561

Those of us who have had the pleasure to work at Trafó were very sad about what happened to György Szabó , a truly inspirational man

http://solidaritywithszabostrafo.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/budapest/article/budapest-another-successful-art-center-must-leave-its-place-due-to-political-decisions.html

and so on....

And before the "it's none of our business, they can do what they like" stuff starts. We only know much of this because our colleagues are asking us for help , Hungary is part of the EU , we have a shared cultural heritage.

[Beef Oven!]

Why? She might well have been considering going back when she retired, or something like that. What makes you so knowledgeable about her motivations? - especially since otherwise your insights haven't led you as far as noticing "anything untoward" going on in Hungarian society. If you don't like the Guardian here's an article about the Hungarian far right and its explicit antisemitism from the Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...he-future.html

I have no knowledge of her motivations whatsoever, anymore than anyone else does from the statement attributed to her. I can deal with statements like 'all swans are black', anything else is conjecture, common sense or myth.

A discussion about the Hungarian far right might be interesting, but it is irrelevant to the point I was making.

[Beef Oven!]

Some other things

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Hungary-s-government-tightens-grip-on-arts/25561

Those of us who have had the pleasure to work at Trafó were very sad about what happened to György Szabó , a truly inspirational man

http://solidaritywithszabostrafo.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/budapest/article/budapest-another-successful-art-center-must-leave-its-place-due-to-political-decisions.html

and so on....

And before the "it's none of our business, they can do what they like" stuff starts. We only know much of this because our colleagues are asking us for help , Hungary is part of the EU , we have a shared cultural heritage.

Our colleagues are asking for help? What can we, as a bunch of middle-class prats, loitering on a radio station discussion forum, do?

I mean, I know we can make all the right noises, but what do you suppose we should do? Lead the way and tell us, discounting the chest-beating and 'look at me, I'm a caring trendy socialist' stuff. Where do the fundraising donations go? Lead the way and tell us how much you've put up front. Or is it about manpower? When do we go over there and get stuck in?