JÁNOS SEBESTYÉN
ABOUT THIS SITE
I created this site as a tribute to János Sebestyén, a musician of amazing versatility who has enriched my life and expanded my musical horizons for more than twenty-five years. Sebestyén is well known to music lovers in his native Hungary for his many recitals and countless radio and television broadcasts. In other parts of the world he is recognized for his numerous recordings.
I discovered his art for myself during the summer of 1979. I was thirteen and had recently found the score to Bach's Italian Concerto at my local library in Spirit Lake, Iowa. Wanting to hear this work, and having little to spend, I purchased his Bach recital on the VOX/TURNABOUT label. My initial impression was disappointment due to the muffled, jangling quality of the harpsichord used for the recording. Despite my age, I was fairly certain I knew what a good harpsichord should sound like, and it was difficult to get past the sound of this instrument. The music, however, was so engaging I could not stop listening, and I soon realized there was something special about the performances too - they just sounded right to me. There was a natural musicality in Sebestyén's playing that I found appealing; I loved the intensity of his Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, the solemnity of the Toccata in C minor and the high spirits of the Italian Concerto. I knew I wanted to hear more from this artist and before long I had his VOX recordings of Portuguese music, old Hungarian dances and concertos by Monn, Albrechtsberger and Dittersdorf. This was unusual repertoire that further increased my interest in the harpsichord. I also wanted to learn something about Sebestyén himself, but information seemed impossible to find. Eventually I discovered Qualiton Imports in New York, and through them I began to acquire his HUNGAROTON recordings. While I had enjoyed many of the VOX recordings, these were of a considerably higher quality and the album notes offered at least some biographical information. Late in the summer of 1983 his LP of concertos by Cimarosa and Seixas was released. This immediately became a favorite, as it demonstrates the many qualities I appreciate in his playing. A few months later I located his address in a reference book and wrote a letter. I was very excited when just after Christmas I received a reply. I decided then that I would attempt to collect all of Sebestyén's recordings.
Of his recordings, about half are on the HUNGAROTON label. These span almost his entire career, from 1958 to 2002. Many of his recordings for other labels were the result of a collaboration with two prolific record producers: Thomas Gallia and Paul Déry. Gallia was born in Budapest in 1921 and came from a prominent musical family; his grandfather, István Thomán, studied piano under Liszt and was later Bartók's teacher. Gallia's career began at the Hungarian Radio in 1947 and he later became chief engineer for MHV, the predecessor of HUNGAROTON. After the Hungarian revolution in 1956 he worked for PATHÉ MARCONI in Paris. In 1961, along with Paul Déry, he formed SONART, an independent recording business based in Milan. Déry had been on the staff of the Hungarian Radio at the same time as Gallia. He was a professional singer and later worked as a musician in East Germany before accepting Gallia's offer to join him in Milan. Déry worked as the editor and producer for their recordings, while Gallia was the sound engineer, handling all of the technical aspects. The majority of Sebestyén's work with them dates from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Many of the sessions took place at the Angelicum studio and theatre in Milan. The recordings were made while Sebestyén was on tour in Italy and often had to be completed in one or two days. The extremely limited budget accounts for the less-than-ideal quality of the instruments used. There was no money for the rental of a good harpsichord so they simply had to make due with the instrument available to them in the studio. The short sessions, however, often resulted in performances of a spontaneous, concert-like quality. The LPs were published by various labels including ANGELICUM, CBS ITALIANA and ARISTON in Italy, VOX in the United States and BAM in France. In 1990 Gallia and Déry relocated their operation to Montpellier, becoming SONART FRANCE. Between them, they produced thousands of classical recordings. Déry passed away in 1994, followed by Gallia in 1997. Sebestyén's last session with Gallia took place in January 1996 and included the Hasse and Bach/Vivaldi organ concertos published by HUNGAROTON. In 1994 Gallia was kind enough to reply to a letter I wrote him regarding the recordings he made with Sebestyén.
LISTEN:
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN
Through my conversations with Sebestyén I have come to realize that his recordings are only a small, and to him, not particularly important aspect of his career. He has concentrated most of his energy on his live recitals which have taken him to more than twenty-five countries around the world. During the 1960s his harpsichord recitals were predominate, but by the late 1980s he returned almost exclusively to the organ and piano. Being a self-professed romantic, his playing style is more suited to these instruments. Tastes in harpsichord performance had also changed to a more historically-informed style, and his colorful manner of playing was no longer in fashion. In 1990 he made one of his final harpsichord tours, Sperrhake in tow, performing works by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Soler and De Falla in several Italian cities. Today, he continues to concertize as organist and pianist. A notable exception took place in September 2000 when he participated in performances of three of Bach's multiple harpsichord concertos for the opening concert of the First International Harpsichord Competiton, Budapest.
Like several other performers of his generation, Sebestyén did not actually set out to become a harpsichordist - it simply came about through circumstance. At the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music he received diplomas in composition, piano and organ, with the latter remaining as his preferred instrument. However, in Stalinist Hungary of the early 1950s there were few opportunities for organists. In 1957 he was asked to play the harpsichord part for a performance of Frank Martin's Petite Symphonie Concertante. This performance brought about a renewed interest in the instrument, which was unfamiliar to many in Hungary at that time. After this concert Sebestyén became known as a harpsichordist, and he has since endeavored to promote this instrument as a viable medium for more than just early music. He demonstrated this with his first solo harpsichord recording in 1963, performing, in addition to Bach, transcriptions of Prokofiev and Frank Martin, as well as a new work by Emil Petrovics. His harpsichord recitals often included his own transcriptions of piano compositions by composers such as Miklós Rózsa, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Many of these transcriptions and a number of original 20th century harpsichord compositions were recorded by the Hungarian Radio. Some of Sebestyén's finest performances are among these recordings; two examples being János Decsényi's demanding Divertimento for Harpsichord and Chamber Orchestra composed in 1958 and the great Concert Champêtre by Poulenc. For more information on the revival of the harpsichord in Hungary, read Sebestyén's essay A Short History of Harpsichord Playing in Hungary.
LISTEN:
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
JÁNOS DECSÉNYI
One aspect of his art that is of great importance to Sebestyén, and known only to those who have heard his recitals, is his gift for improvisation. Whether performing as pianist or organist, on the large romantic organ in Pécs or the tiny ancient organ in Sion, Sebestyén has the ability to exploit the resources of any instrument at his disposal in the style of his choice. In past years he collaborated with the Australian pianist Geoffrey Tozer for recitals of four-hand improvisations and more recently with the pianist and organist István Lantos. You can hear two of his improvisations at the website La Folia - A Musical Cathedral.
In addition to his concert activities, Sebestyén is professor at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music where he established the harpsichord class in 1970. Many of his students, including Szilvia Elek, Zsuzsa Elekes, Péter Ella, Anikó Horváth, Judit Péteri, Hédi Salánki, Miklós Spányi and Ágnes Várallyay, have gone on to pursue successful and varied careers in music. He has also worked for the Hungarian Radio in various capacities since 1950, including that of senior music producer from 1969 to 1994. Until May 2007 he wrote and hosted his own programs, which have included From the Diary of a Radio Man, Those Radio Years and Wings of Memories. These regular broadcasts began in 1962, covering all aspects of European musical life and history during the past century. While it may surprise those who know him only from his concerts or recordings, Sebestyén is at heart a radio man, and this perhaps is his first love and true calling.
I admire much in Sebestyén's playing; he understands the architecture of music. With his sense of timing and command of line he can turn a seemingly simple piece, such as one of Bach's Little Preludes, into something of significance. He is not a specialist, which is rare among performers today, but is at home in the entire keyboard repertoire. If you are looking for technical perfection in his playing you will not always find it. Instead, you will find a relaxed and unmannered musicality that cuts to the heart of a composition, bringing it to life in a way that is at once natural and convincing. Sebestyén is an artist I never tire of hearing.
Robert Tifft
Paul Gabler, Marco Papi, Dénes Csiky, Éva Györki, Lászlo Terdik, Ágnes Várallyay, Máté Hollós,
|
