The
Embassy of Hungary hosted a memorial concert in tribute to the late
Hungarian-born pianist, journalist, and political thinker Bálint
Vázsonyi. Mrs.
Simonyi read a personal note by Ambassador Simonyi, who could not be
present at the event, followed by opening remarks from Chargé
d'Affaires Viktor Szederkényi and a remembrance by Alan
Walker, Professor Emeritus of music at McMaster University, Canada,
and a close friend to Mr. Vázsonyi. Pieces by Schubert, Schumann and
Beethoven were performed by renowned London-based pianist Peter Frankl,
visiting professor at Yale University and a childhood friend of Mr. Vázsonyi.
Bálint
Vázsonyi, the world-renowned Hungarian concert pianist, historian, and
political analyst, died at the age of 66 in Washington, D.C., on January
16, 2003.
His death is a loss to universal Hungarian culture and Hungarians
everywhere.
Mr.
Vázsonyi, having experienced Nazi and Soviet tyranny in Hungary, fled to
the United States in the wake of the 1956 uprising. He obtained American
citizenship in 1964. He was Professor of Music at Indiana University, Dean
of Music at the New World School of the Arts in Miami and, from 1996,
Director of the Center for the American Founding.
The
last disciple of the famed Hungarian composer Ernő Dohnányi, Mr. Vázsonyi
became a noted concert pianist and Dohnányi scholar himself. He dedicated
his life to the rehabilitation of Dohnányi in Hungary. Owing to his
persistence, a street next to the Music Academy in Budapest was named for
his erstwhile mentor. A biography of Dohnányi, written by Mr. Vázsonyi,
was published for the second time in 2002 in Hungary.
Mr.
Vázsonyi was presented with the Officer's Cross of the Order of the
Republic of Hungary in 1999, an award he accepted at a concert he gave at
the Embassy in February 2001.
He
published extensively on musical, cultural, and political subjects in the Wall
Street Journal, National Review, and the Washington Times. As
Director of the Center for the American Founding, Mr. Vázsonyi played an
important part in the analysis and shaping of the internal processes of
American society.
Bálint
Vázsonyi was a tireless person, always full of plans. Despite his failing
health, he agreed to hold a lecture in April 2003 at a joint Embassy and
Smithsonian Associate seminar on Hungary.
Ambassador
Simonyi and the Embassy staff would like to offer their heartfelt
condolences to Mr. Vázsonyi's widow, Mrs. Barbara Vázsonyi, and to his
son, Nicholas.
