Zoltán Kocsis says he will only make peace with the leaders of the Budapest Festival Orchestra if they apologise to him since in his opinion, they removed from the orchestra in 1997 on trumped up charges and have been attacking him ever since. According to conductor and pianist Zoltán Kocsis, it is only natural that his orchestra, the National Philharmonic, was asked to give the inaugural concert at the new Palace of Arts.

-Were you disappointed not to receive the Prima Primissima prize?

– I don't think anyone received deeper, more spontaneous, or more sincere praise on that evening than I received from Gábor Presser [a rock musician contemporary with Kocsis who was awarded the prize]. Actually, I would say that most people couldn't understand how we three – Gábor Presser, the Benkó Dixieland Band and myself – were placed into a single category.

– For years, the press has been full of the argument between you and Iván Fischer. You founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra together, but once you became the music director of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, they rescinded your contract. Clearly, the problems derive from earlier than 1997.

– There would have been no problem whatsoever had I remained a “sleeping partner” and didn't start conducting. Things would still be fine if I just played the piano, occasionally assumed the role of “ball boy” and made symbolic appearances. But in the present situation, the dispute would not be so bitter were the National Philharmonic Orchestra less successful and if I did not possess the qualities of a conductor.

– I'm tone deaf, so this is not me being impolite: you do have these qualities?

– If someone has musical skills, then they can learn conducting relatively quickly, although there is no question it is a profession in its own right.

– Iván Fischer certainly offered you the peace of pipe. He proposed that you jointly open the Palace of Arts on March 14th, but you didn't accept this. Why?

– Asking state secretary Lajos Vass to act as a kind of postman seems a rather weak and frivolous gesture, considering that the leaders of the Festival Orchestra clearly know how to contact me directly. But let's assume they were serious: to be able to talk about reconciliation, two things need to happen. First, the leaders of the Festival Orchestra should sincerely apologise to me for what happened in the past, and they should also make gestures in my direction.

– What exactly should the orchestra leaders apologise for?

– Because I was removed from the Budapest Festival Orchestral on pre-determined trumped up accusations. They said I destroyed discipline, that I became the mouthpiece for musicians wanting less work and more money. Anyone who knows about my life will realise that it is centred on work, not money. I do the work of several people: besides leading the orchestra and conducting, I continue my career as a solo pianist, I also work for Holmi magazine, I orchestrate, I compose music … With Christmas approaching its nice to talk about reconciliation. But those who are talking about it have been attacking me for years on end. I won't list everything because an interview has finite length and it would also offend my good taste.

– So let's just pick a few! It is a fact that the National Philharmonic Orchestra receives considerably greater state support than the Festival Orchestra. They justly regard this as unfair.

– They talk almost constantly about the differences in state support. But they are profoundly quiet about the fact that it is not possible to compare an ensemble with only 60 to 65 standing musicians to an orchestra with 106 musicians and a chorus 80 strong. It is true that I asked for money from the cultural ministry – in the first instance during the Horn government. But it never once occurred to me to ask money to be taken away others. Just as our money was not withdrawn from anyone else. We received the money with conditions, one of which was that we could not have our own private sponsors, clearly so we would not take away possible sponsors from the Festival Orchestra which receives its money from the City of Budapest and sponsors. I was also accused of seducing musicians away from them. I did not lure a single musician, and I have as witnesses those musicians who wanted to come to the National Philharmonic Orchestra at the first available opportunity: I didn't offer them contracts, simply because they were not good enough. Those who have joined us from the Festival Orchestra had to undergo a very tough audition, in all, this amounted to 8 musicians. You should ask them why they came because the money they now receive is no greater than they received in their previous place of employment. And I haven't mentioned musicians who also left the Festival Orchestra and who didn't come to us, but that of course, is nothing to do with me.

– If Iván Fischer actually apologised, would you accept?

– My feeling is that'll only happen after the Ides of March.

– With this, we have returned to the complications surrounding the Palace of Arts.

– Really, they should apologise for this entire silliness, but this is not just about me but the whole orchestra. The Palace of Arts will be our headquarters: we are the orchestra and choir supported by the state. I consider it logical that they invited us to give the official opening concert. It would not have been possible for technical reasons for two orchestras to perform. For protocol reasons, we have had to drastically shorten our programme. Iván Fischer knew very well that I was in no position to carry out his otherwise quite impractical request, just as I suspect that will certainly be no sincere apology from him. Not even in words.

– What would convince you?

– Besides a public apology, sincere gestures.

– For example, an invitation to conduct the Festival Orchestra?

– For example. But it would be sufficient if they stopped stirring the mud and let us carry on with our work in peace. That would be a very nice gesture. We ourselves have never talked publically about what we have suffered from the Festival Orchestra.

– Can you give me an example of this?

– I'm not going to talk about it now either.

– Doesn't perhaps Iván Fischer fear that the National Philharmonic will appropriate the National Concert Hall for itself, even though it is not for your exclusive use?

– The building was constructed to give a home to the National Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and for visiting orchestras. Naturally, we do not determine who plays in the hall and when. There was never any question of us receiving the organisational rights to the hall, not would we have wanted them. On the other hand, three floors of the building are ours, this is where we will have our rehearsal rooms and offices. Finally, we will have a place where we can work in comfortable circumstances.

– So with this, a new era is beginning in the history of the National Philharmonic Orchestra?

– No, the new era began in 2000 when the orchestra was transformed. Of course, you cannot compare the Festival Orchestra's debut concert in 1983 with the National Philharmonic Orchestra's concert of October 9th 2000. The first was an entirely new ensemble, the latter was a rejuvenated orchestra that still possessed traditions, and which retained its style, including, for example, that of János Ferencsik.

– And now your style as well! They say the orchestra plays Bartók as if it was played on the piano.

– And I am very proud of that. Why shouldn't it sound this way? Hungary is choc-a-bloc with exceptional talents, but a good orchestra is still like a white raven. Why? Because we are Hungarians and we tend to pull this way and that. In Hungary, that kind of collective work ethic which you readily find in Germany, Japan and America, is still a rarity. I don't lead the orchestra with dictatorial methods, but I endeavour for a musician occupying a certain point in the hierarchy to see through the entire edifice. By the same token, this is not democracy because there is no such thing in music.

Péter Hamvay
(Népszava, December 20, 2004)