Visiting scholars; Zoltan Rozsnyai, part one

In its visiting scholar series WBL he presents a visit with a conductor. Part One The visiting scholars program of the Cleveland public schools was developed under the direction of Superintendent Paul Briggs and was designed to bring teachers and students into direct personal contact with outstanding scholars. Today in visit with a conductor we bring you the first of two interviews with Zoltan Rosny III a conductor who has led many orchestras in Europe and the United States. He founded the Philharmonic in Vienna following the Hungarian Revolution and made his American debut in 1056 conducting the Minneapolis symphony shortly after making his home in the United States in 1961. He was appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein. Mr. Rodney I was a recently appointed conductor of the Utica Symphony Orchestra and has also appeared as guest conductor of the Sandy Eggo Symphony for several seasons he has been musical director and conductor of the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition to being a teacher

and conductor Mr Osmia is also a composer. He is interviewed now by Cecilia Evans of WB O.E.. Mr. Rosenau like your enduring name can present a bit of a problem for Americans. What is the correct pronunciation. I understand the problem because you are not the first. Probably not the last one who asked this question. Rosemary zone is no one in Hungary I would say you know opposite way. So we say the feminine The Emperors and so-called first name own last second because that's the that's more specify the person the family name of course and here it's reversed Yeah weather and then you're together makes the problem I think is only Russian or other languages very clearly put Mr. Rosen Yeah. Could you tell us how you got started in music. I started in very very early age by my parents discover that

I have absolute pitch hearing while once I was sick I remember my mother show me on the piano which is that which the C D when I was 4 or 5 not to 5 then and I remembered just that just the right keyboard noughts. And a few weeks later I was sick and I lie in the bedroom and my mother played the piano and suddenly I began to do a lot from the woman thought doubting Gordon or with what she was doing on the piano so she became suspicious that I have a good ear and tried to be different notes and they'd find out that I have absolute peaches. And showed me around some of the. Piano teachers and they picked me up and I begin to the piano before I was five and I studied through the notes before I came to the first that I school and that was the only thought when your mother was a musician. You know my mother was a singer. But that was not her

main profession she did this song with different churches and you know the so you sort of pop professional study singing. Well I understand they found that musical ability is inherited. So it was interesting to me to hear that more or less maybe like every every other ability. What led you to choose the field of conducting as your profession as you started out as a pianist. Yes I say well I was a pianist until I was 18 and while studying piano of course I faced the problem more and more often as I became the pianist and that I want to have more and more color in my piano playing. And thus one of my teachers and used to say that like to play the left hand like the chattels would play and he was on time you have to seem to come to me and I like it or Brock would play it and suddenly I began to thinking it right should I do something like if I can do it. You understand the psychology well somehow that writer that brought if I can

have actuality that lead through that to the meaning of the orchestra of course first I think you know organised which was the next step out of the piano frame and the organ has of course a much more colorful possibility as Mr. Big You prosecute church organ. And after the organ I begin to study composition and that was a great way to conducting going from composition you're meant to going down to composition I began to analyze other books than be I'm only the richer of course think want that's and the artist that works and of course immediately became interested to reproduce the good works not only just just put on the paper which is a BAD. Thing before reproducing. It sounds like an enormous amount of work studying composition and. I guess that every profession if you want to be more or less perfect and it's a lot of work except to being an actor or a movie actor or being. A professional

conduct or being someone who who is more or less on the stage on the spotlight the people get it and pay more attention. But I don't think that anything at what what you really do well you can do it with just less amount of work we need a lot of work to do every profession gratification concentration. Yes. What would you say are the major differences between the training of a conductor in Europe. And here in the United States. You see I'm only in the fifth year here which in the meaning or really responsible calm power is in between the two education will be not in our parlor I think that in Europe to emphasize more that cross equal educational way. So to be a conductor in Europe is necessary to have a major reform one of the instruments and then have a. Very good few We're educational one of the orchestra instruments if the other

instrument wasn't necessary orchestra instruments like for instance piano was not our custom still and so someone with a pianist has to study wiring or some wood beams which are actually. Members of a symphony orchestra. Then of course they have to study composition as I told you and after majoring of composition he's studying three four years conducting beginning from the early even Pollard's 3 not coming very soon to Haydn seen ponies Beethoven symphonies so or doing the classical way. And based on a very solid basement of the cross included the nature of the lising those and gone ducting those coming very soon to the Oprah show which gives At last he gives the freedom of a conducting I remember in the first year before conducting cross was obligated to what he or the more that you thought he was and the way that some of us with the horrible voice singing and other tried to pull him wanted to be which was sometimes like at

that scene going on the christ keeper of course and those educations we became rich you know our prayer halls became it was already got the money for us to work with us and then after three four years of very hard that you Keisha and then we got to your first assignment us Aussies stand or stand on the RC stand in front of the scene 20 workers toss or hose it raw in United States like many other things I have more freedom in this way too. I would say that the classical education is and I got that here but. You can you can jump a lot and concentrate more on the modern music education here and concentrate on the modern field and maybe as I see they don't emphasize so much that classical what we did there. They are rather content on the most modern and most peak. Professional

achievements here so many times a young conductors gram came out from the conduct go to school and conduct someone walk you never dreamed to even touch it begins with this driving skill or X progress or the ride to spring which which we are in or at people at every age would say that a conductor should not be untouched before the tenth anniversary of his conducting. No question that that in my eye he's growing very fast upwards in the educations or whatever I do I don't know how they do what they do with well so that I don't feel that I can say more about what do you think it would be more difficult to jump in and do we have to work by Stravinsky without all the solid classical experience. Mind you maybe not that more difficult but more risky more risky and. I think it's more it's more typical of American mentality to take chances.

That's probably true of our pioneer heritage at this. Point. MR. What do you think are the most important qualities for a conductor to have a conductor. First of course to get the meaning of the word conductor is a leading person I do anything in the music career and leads a bunch of musicians. Range from 40 to a hundred fifty or one accord was a more than than Oprah. So it has to be a leader as a personality and because he's a music really there has to be better educated in his profession so well that he's should be questioned while he working a question is already every shaky right a jerky leader. In other words it's important for him to be vital dynamic. Someone the man can respect in his workmanship and in his approach to that in any way has to have the needing to has the leading or the person who's leading which means

going to had knowing going behind. I think when we look at the noted conductors of the last few centuries we find that almost without exception they have been strong personalities. I would say that no exception with no exceptions. There's no question that someone could not be a leader and not believe that inspection and motion of like music without having a very strong character. I want to ask you Do you think it's more difficult to conduct opera symphony orchestra or is it just different. It is different I wouldn't I wouldn't specify that is more difficult of course in the opera there are much more things are in war because we conduct the same point that the different instruments you have through conducting or in audition us. Stage a lot of possibility of mistakes and that's the picture scenery. I have hundreds of people behind stage we're all booking together and

that he has to work like a precise watch in order to work together. The very obvious that the factors of making failures are much more harder than you are in the spotlight at the same point. That's true but the results are very exciting. Mr. Ross I was wondering I mean the difference is in music education in the public schools of Hungary and America. It's again of course that many or a meeting or a talking are on. I'm sure I think Rice wanted to say that seems very obvious in Hungary brass general music education should be. More effective in

Hungary and because of the OP who I think up to drive or 13 ride now or bigger 3 music education which which involves more through singing and elementary music studies not so much instruments than here in the United States because it has also economical side because of course Hungary is much more poor come to the states and there are not so many instruments available. Brown is one of the fourth in here so to have a thriving it's almost requires a poor family for four years. Right here I think the children would get much more support to get things through and most of them to get from the school. So maybe that would explain why there's more stress on instrumental music here and more stress on individual folk singing. But you mentioned earlier in Hungary. Yeah there's still there's that you know in Europe much of the professional musical activity of course is subsidized by the government.

How do you feel about this do you think that subsidization is needed in America I would say I would say very much indeed. I just think it is a need there or there. The state has to show us the good example where to go and ride to war is one way to go in a good ways to educated well in music. I think the musical education as many groupings in this stage should be should be halved and pushed much more from the States or any and he's there and so there are either four but their education is is more than necessary in my hand I think it's more than welcome for everybody when there's consideration of the general you creation for a better education or are you just in the arts and this seems to be developing now. I think very much indeed Mr. Razmi I it's been stimulating and lightning to talk here today. Thank you. In visit with the conductor part one you approach the first of two interviews with Sultan Rosny II the visiting scholar series is

produced for the Cleveland Board of Education station WABE Oh we have them by Charles Segal engineer Denis basic. Your interviewer was Cecilia EVANS This is leaf anchor speaking this is the Board of Education station WB O.E. in Cleveland. This program was distributed by national educational radio. This is the national educational radio network.