Interview with world-class Hungarian Pianist Éva Polgár

Renowned Hungarian pianist Éva Polgár has been named Cultural Ambassador of the Year by the Hungary Foundation (HIF). In the context of this prestigious nomination as well as her upcoming recitals in the United States the Liszt Institute New York had the honor to interview Éva Polgár.

LINY: If I am well informed, you are the first in your family to choose a career in music. What was the defining experience that made you decide to become a musician? What would you have been if you hadn't been a musician?

ÉP: Musical talent runs in my family, yet I am the only one who became a professional musician. We all loved my paternal grandfather's accordion playing, there wasn't a birthday, harvest or other festive occasion when he didn't play well into the night. As a small child I used to listen to these musical-singing gatherings from the accordion case, so the magic of the black and white keys captivated me early on and later we became inseparable. I never thought about what other field I could have found a career in, music, for me, amalgamates everything.

LINY: Traveling and having a cosmopolitan lifestyle has been part of your life from a very early age. You studied at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest and also at the Sibelius Academy of Music. What inspired you to study in Finland?

ÉP: Finland was one of my favourite periods of my studies. Thanks to a music school exchange program and the support of my parents, I was able to travel to Finland when I was 13. Little did I know at the time that the week-long experience of traveling, sharing concerts with local piano students, the warm hospitality and the beauty of the country would shape my future university years. I learnt Finnish on my own initiative and, in addition to the Liszt Academy in Budapest, I applied to the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where I attended classes in Finnish and eventually obtained my Master's degree in piano at both universities. From there, it was just a 'light leap' to do my doctoral studies in the US at the University of North Texas.

LINY: This year you had the honor of being awarded the Cultural Ambassador Award by the Hungary Foundation in Washington DC. What can you tell us about this award and the related programs?

ÉP: Being awarded by the Hungary Foundation is a great honor. I regularly attend embassy events, served three summers as a consular assistant at the Embassy of Finland in Budapest and played piano at diplomatic events on numerous occasions. Therefore, I am fulfilling a long-standing dream of trying my hand at cultural diplomacy and sharing the musical treasures of our country with audiences in the Hungarian diaspora and the United States. The Hungary Foundation's award also includes the realization of an artistic program through their financial support system, which will bridge the gap between our two countries. Before me, the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble toured the United States, and I won this honorable title by producing a four-stop, major concert tour.

LINY: What does the role of cultural ambassador mean to you and what will be the focus of your activities?

ÉP: I feel that the cultural ambassador role is the essence of all the professional activities I have been building up during my years in Finland and the US, touching other continents, including Asia and South America. Away from home, my love for Hungarian identity and the musical and spiritual heritage of Liszt, Bartók and Kodály has grown even stronger. Naturally, at every concert I play a Hungarian Rhapsody, Evening with the Szeklers or Székely keserves - these pieces bring our unique world of sound and rhythm into the concert hall. For this tour, I'm also preparing mainly with works by Franz Liszt and Zoltán Kodály, as well as Debussy and the world premiere of an American piano sonata. My choice of repertoire is therefore also the goal of my cultural ambassadorship, namely, that Hungarian audiences can be refreshed by the familiar melodies and American audiences can get to know our world-class art.

LINY: To promote Hungarian music and culture, you will give a total of four recitals in the United States: in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and New York. As a well-known and respected interpreter of Liszt's works, what criteria did you use to put together the program?

ÉP: Franz Liszt is eternal. Venturing out from the Academy of Music he founded to the stages of the world entails cultivating the knowledge passed down from generation to generation as Liszt's great-grandchildren. This is something I am happy to do as co-director of the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition and as a pianist. Having grown up in Zebegény near the Danube and having spent my home days scrubbing the stones of the Church of Our Lady of the Snows designed by the famous Károly Kós, I have Liszt's nature and spirituality inspired works on my program. I also pay attention to other contexts, such as how Claude Debussy inspired Zoltán Kodály's early compositions, and I juxtapose them in the concerts, if only because we celebrate the centenary of the birth of both composers in 2022.

LINY: Highlighting the New York performance, this is the second time you have given a concert at Carnegie Hall. How does it feel to return to New York?

ÉP: As I mentioned in the short film introducing the program, in the Central Park in New York I can imagine finding my way home to the Danube Bend, listening to the sound of the water lapping and the birds chirping. The park is very close to Carnegie Hall, so the citadel of high culture and the tranquillity of nature give me the feeling of „having arrived, being in my safe place". In my previous concert, I performed Bartók's famous trio Contrasts with violinist Kristóf Baráti and clarinetist Bence Szepesi, among others, which was a huge success. This occasion is especially exciting, because it will be my first solo piano recital at Carnegie Hall, so I am enthusiastically looking forward to the „familiar unknown” and cannot wait to be meeting the New York audience, which will, without a doubt, provide unforgettable moments.

LINY: In addition to your concert activities, you are also active as a teacher, including as a professor of piano at Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles. How do you balance your performing and piano teaching commitments?

ÉP: The question rightly arises, because reconciling performing and teaching is sometimes a pronounced challenge. It requires self-knowledge, practical experience and dedication. Fortunately, I follow the example of my own mentors, all of whom are charismatic individuals, both as pianists and teachers. When I was young, I thought it was impossible to cultivate both fields to the same high level. Today, however, I see that I am a credible teacher if I can set a good example on stage and a good performer if I can give my students the ideas and manuals that lead to a memorable performance. This balance gives me the impetus to continue.