János Devich, cellist, Professor Emeritus of the Liszt Academy of Music, member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, a leading figure in Hungarian cultural and musical life, was born in Szeged on 3 April 1938.
Roots
Family ties and his roots remained important to him throughout his life, just as his passion for the visual arts and art history, alongside music, stayed with him throughout his life thanks to his artist parents.
His maternal grandfather’s family – which also had Armenian ancestry – came from the Banat, the southern territories. Fleeing persecution there, they escaped to Hungary in harsh conditions, travelling in railway wagons.
His paternal grandfather was a salt-store official in Dunaföldvár before moving to Szeged, where his talented artist son, Sándor Devich, obtained a position as an art teacher after graduating from the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest. An outstanding portrait painter, he painted the city’s prominent citizens one after another and established an excellent livelihood for himself. Before the war, there were two cars in Szeged, one of which belonged to him. He also excelled at sport. Every morning he rowed a single scull to Tápé and back. Their eight, which won the Szeged regatta, regularly gave the crews of Budapest universities a run for their money at major competitions.
His mother, Mária Baár, was also an excellent draughtswoman and intended to attend the College of Applied Arts. Sándor Devich was recommended to her as a drawing teacher to prepare her for the entrance examination. The lessons led to marriage in 1934. The young couple toured Austria and Italy on a motorcycle with a sidecar. At the time there were two studio apartments in Szeged; they were given one of them, while Vilmos Aba-Novák lived in the other for a time.
Childhood
“I was born in Szeged on Palm Sunday 1938, the second son of healthy, emotionally balanced and loving parents. I know that statistically every 365th child is born on Palm Sunday, yet being one of them always gave me confidence, even if only subconsciously. Perhaps it was only those born at Christmas whom I regarded with a little envy,” János Devich later recalled.
His elder brother, Sándor, had barely begun school in Szeged when the war reached Hungary in 1944, bringing their carefree, happy childhood to a brutal end. The family believed it would be safer to wait for the front to pass in a larger city, so they moved to Budapest. They could not have known that their new home in Batthyány Street, below Buda Castle, would become the scene of a bloody siege and heavy bombing.
They survived the siege in an air-raid shelter. From Christmas Eve 1944, when the wailing siren sounded for the first time, they spent two months underground, while the surrounding area above them was struck by ten thousand bombs a day. Forty-nine people were crammed into a cellar intended for twenty, struggling with shortages of water. They survived on peas, lentils, beans and horsemeat. They also had to endure harassment by the Arrow Cross and the Russians. Their apartment was hit by a bomb just one day before the siege ended, leaving them with no more possessions than could fill a small truck.
After the war, it was once again the father’s resourcefulness and talent that helped the family back on its feet. Sándor Devich took on sign-painting work, for which there was plenty of demand, and through hard work he was soon able to establish a home for the family again. After several rented rooms, they eventually moved to Lónyay Street, while his father obtained a position in the restoration workshop of the Museum of Fine Arts (years later, he became the museum’s chief conservator). For János Devich, this again brought experiences that would remain with him for life. “My brother and I spent whole days in the museum with its shattered windows. We ate lunch in the workshop and played football in the galleries, among paintings whose figures and creators soon became personal acquaintances of mine – El Greco, Tiepolo, Tintoretto and the others. Csontváry’s A magányos cédrus (The Lonely Cedar) hung on the wall of my father’s workshop,” the cellist recalled.
Schools
János Devich completed his four years of primary school at a French school called Champagnat. In two years, he learned French so well simply by listening that he was able to use the language throughout his life. Although the family was Catholic, he continued his secondary education at the Lónyay Reformed Grammar School, opposite their home. His class teacher was the son of the famous preacher Gyula Muraközy.
Meanwhile, one day the head of the family came home with two violins and enrolled Sándor and János at the music school in Knézich Street. “It soon became clear that my brother was very talented, but the violin just never sat right in my hands; they only called me ‘Lekvár Jancsi’ [Jam Johnny],” the cellist later recalled.
After the violin came a year of piano lessons, and it was only then that he began playing the cello. His brother was taken for a violin entrance examination at the Bartók Conservatory in Nagymező Street (officially the Béla Bartók Secondary School of Music and Grammar School), and his younger brother accompanied him. They examined János’s hands, and cello teacher Sándor Sebestyén told his father: “If you enrol this boy for cello, they can both come.” This was how János Devich entered the Bartók Conservatory and joined Sándor Sebestyén’s cello class.
He studied his general academic subjects at the music secondary school and took his school-leaving examination there in 1956. He later wrote of these years: “History and my own story began to go their separate ways. I was eleven when I first held a cello in my hands, at the same time as the grim everyday reality of living in constant fear of the doorbell and uncertainty about what the future might bring. My teachers said I was talented, while I simply got on with what I had to do, without doubts or misgivings, preparing for a career about which I still knew nothing.”
His interest in the visual arts, inherited from his family, together with an exceptionally charismatic teacher, the European-minded Ilona Balázs, rekindled János Devich’s passion for art history. So much so that he considered studying the humanities instead of pursuing a career in music.
Ilona Balázs, “Aunt Ica,” gathered interested students around her and regularly held meetings at her home. According to János Devich, these discussions had a profound influence on their thinking. “Students with the most diverse worldviews gathered there, many of whom later went on to achieve great things. They included Imre Földes, László Dobszay, Tibor Erkel, Imre Montágh and Imre Antal. We debated and broadened one another’s horizons,” the cellist later recalled.
The distinguished figures who frequently visited the family home also influenced the young man. Film director István Szőts, painter Jenő Barcsay and István Genthon, the renowned art historian at the Museum of Fine Arts, were all regular visitors. And although János Devich ultimately remained with music, his passion for art history stayed with him throughout his life.
Liszt Academy
After successfully completing his secondary-school studies, János Devich took the entrance examination for the Liszt Academy of Music in the spring of 1956. His talent became appar ent after just four minutes of playing the cello, and he was admitted immediately. (His elder brother had already been accepted into Ede Zathureczky’s violin class and later went on to an international career with the Bartók String Quartet.) János joined the class of the older master Antal Friss (“Uncle Tóni”), who by then had somewhat withdrawn from the concert stage. It was Friss who taught him the secrets of the profession.
From 1957, six students studied in Antal Friss’s cello class. Three of János Devich’s fellow students are particularly worth mentioning: his friend László Mező, later a member of the Bartók String Quartet and subsequently professor of cello at the Liszt Academy; Mária Frank, who travelled the world as a cellist with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra; and Károly Ádám, who became an outstanding cello teacher in Debrecen.
János Devich remembered his years at the Liszt Academy as one of the happiest periods of his life. “Five years spent studying, with friends, healthy rivalry, innocent romances and devouring music,” he wrote. They spent almost every free evening at concerts at the Liszt Academy, sitting in the second-floor gallery. Great artists came to Budapest to perform, and there was much to learn from them.
Their chamber-music teachers, including András Mihály, gave them lessons that would last a lifetime. Albert Simon introduced the young musicians to the secrets of orchestral playing. In 1962, Devich gave his graduation recital in the Liszt Academy’s Small Hall.
Meanwhile, new storm clouds of history were gathering over Hungary.
“I sensed – at the time only by picking up fragments of conversation from my worried parents – that history had taken a false turn, since one was allowed, indeed required, to say one thing in the street and at school and another at home, among family and friends. 1956 was a year of catharsis. The joy of graduating with excellent results was surpassed by the euphoria of those twelve days, and then overshadowed by the despair that followed. History had become the drama of our lives,” János Devich wrote. The family survived the fighting of 1956 by remaining in their apartment, while the young man preparing for a career as a cellist – like many of his contemporaries – found an even greater refuge in music and at the Liszt Academy from the harsh falsehoods of the outside world.
Opera House
During the final year of his studies at the Liszt Academy, a tremendous opportunity arose for János Devich. The Hungarian State Opera House was looking for a substitute musician, and someone recommended him. He fitted easily into the orchestra, and by the time he graduated he had already secured a position in the Opera House’s cello section. Meanwhile, he met Katalin Durkó, a pianist and the younger sister of his friend, composer Zsolt Durkó. The young couple married in 1963. Even before his wedding and his graduation from the Liszt Academy, fate offered him another extraordinary opportunity: János Devich received a scholarship to Rome, where he spent six months studying under the renowned cellist Enrico Mainardi at the famous Santa Cecilia Academy.
He later recalled his months in Rome: “With only pennies in my pocket, I roamed the Eternal City. Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini and Bramante became my friends; when I wanted to rest, I would lie down beside the fountains or at the foot of a Doric column in the gardens of the Palatine. The Trevi Fountain rewarded the coins I threw into it: I was to see my beloved city again on some twenty later occasions.”
The young Hungarian cellist was given wings by his studies in Rome and by the free European atmosphere. Moreover, when he returned home, a secure livelihood and his position at the Opera awaited him: he began his orchestral career at the Erkel Theatre. Two years after his marriage, his first child, Márton Devich, was born. From 1961 to 1985 he was a cellist with the Opera House, serving as principal cellist for ten years from 1975. Thanks to the institution, he was able to play a Stradivarius for many years.
He took part in extraordinary performances at the Erkel Theatre, particularly under the baton of János Ferencsik, with József Simándy, György Melis and such international stars as Giacomo Aragall, Renata Scotto, Anna Moffo, Mario del Monaco and Nicolai Ghiaurov.
String Quartet
In 1966, Ernő Sebestyén, concertmaster of the Opera House orchestra, approached him with the idea of forming a string quartet. A group was assembled for the Geneva competition: Ernő Sebestyén (first violin), István Krasznai (second violin), József Kelemen (viola) and János Devich (cello), but they failed to reach the final. The line-up changed, and years of intensive work followed alongside their duties at the Opera House. Then came another test: in 1969, their quartet won first prize at the Budapest International String Quartet Competition. The victory also earned the ensemble the Liszt Prize and opened the doors of Western concert halls to them. They also won a competition in Munich as a string trio, while Tamás Szabó replaced Párkányi in the quartet.
By this time, the string quartet ranked among the country’s most prestigious performing ensembles, and their concerts were organised by the powerful Interkoncert agency. Many contemporary Hungarian composers wrote works for them, which they premiered. Soon, however, they faced another difficulty when Ernő Sebestyén, the quartet’s first violinist, left for Berlin to take up a position as concertmaster.
The momentum of their earlier successes carried the quartet through this more difficult period, but it was not until 1980 that real stability and a decisive turning point came. With the permission of Zoltán Kodály’s widow, they adopted the name Kodály String Quartet, and Attila Falvay became the quartet’s new first violinist. Their greatest successes were still to come, but quartet playing and the extensive travelling it involved became increasingly difficult to reconcile with his work at the Opera House, so János Devich left his position there in 1985. Their concerts in Budapest and elsewhere in Hungary were organised by the National Philharmonic, while the string quartet travelled the world. They performed in almost every country in Europe, as well as in South America, the United States, Australia, China, Japan and South Korea. They appeared at major festivals from Besançon to Warsaw.
Their achievements included nearly two thousand concerts and more than fifty recordings. Numerous records preserve their performances of string quartets by Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, Kodály and Dohnányi; piano quintets by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Bartók; clarinet quintets by Mozart, Weber and Brahms; and works by contemporary composers. They performed quartets by Attila Bozay, Zsolt Durkó, József Soproni, Sándor Szokolay, László Dubrovay and István Láng.
Of their recordings, the album series released by Naxos featuring Joseph Haydn’s complete string quartets achieved the greatest international success; in 1994, the series received an award for best recording in London. In 1990, János Devich was awarded the title of Merited Artist as a member of the ensemble, and in 1996 he received the Bartók–Pásztory Prize. He retired from quartet playing in 1997.
Family
In the meantime, János Devich divorced his first wife and in 1974 married Sára Veszelszky, an English teacher. According to the cellist, she also introduced him to a wonderfully new artistic outlook far removed from academic conventions, as his new father-in-law was Béla Veszelszky, the renowned avant-garde painter who lived in internal exile. He moved with his new family to Budapest’s 2nd district, and in 1989 they bought a farmhouse in Balatonhenye, where they have enjoyed spending their summers and leisure time ever since.
János Devich’s second son, Dénes, was born in 1976, followed by his third, Gáspár, in 1979. As he put it, his sons were his “true pride and joy.” Márton Devich later became a journalist, Dénes a history and Latin teacher, and Gáspár a lawyer. János Devich currently has five grandchildren.
Teaching
After leaving the Opera House, János Devich returned to his alma mater, the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, as a teacher in 1985 – “the crowning achievement of his musical career,” as he put it. András Mihály, head of the Chamber Music Department, appointed him to the faculty. He steadily advanced through the academic ranks, becoming first assistant professor and then associate professor. Following his habilitation, he was appointed full professor at the Liszt Academy in 1999.
“Whatever I can give young aspiring artists from my knowledge and experience, I try to learn just as much from them in cheerfulness, energy and youthfulness,” he said, summing up his philosophy as a teacher. He taught chamber music and string quartet. In 2005, he was given the title of Rector’s Adviser, which he has retained ever since. Before retiring, he became professor emeritus. In 2013, fifty years after graduating, he received his Golden Diploma from the Liszt Academy. He helped numerous young quartets take their first steps, including the Academy’s and Nyári String Quartets.
His teaching, of course, was not confined to the Liszt Academy. Throughout his career, János Devich was invited to numerous masterclasses as a guest professor. For five years he taught at the Pécs Music Camp, and he also taught in Weikersheim, Germany; Estoril, Portugal; and Blonay, Switzerland, at the invitation of the Hindemith Foundation.
Public Life
At the time of the political transition in 1989–90, Zsolt Durkó founded the Hungarian Music Society as an “alternative” civil organisation within Hungarian musical life. Although János Devich was not among its founders, he soon joined the organisation and, following Zsolt Durkó’s death, took over as its president. He organised concerts and festivals, including the Minifestival, and represented the organisation on decision-making bodies that shaped the country’s musical life. He enjoyed his involvement in public affairs.
In 1998, Gergely Prőhle, a state secretary in the Orbán government, approached him to ask whether he would take on a role in the newly established Ministry of National Cultural Heritage. János Devich agreed and worked under two ministers, József Hámori and Zoltán Rockenbauer, first as a section head in the Department of Arts and later as head of the department. “Both ministers were great supporters of music, so we were able to do a great deal for the development of Hungarian musical life,” he later recalled.
During this period, construction began on the Palace of Arts, the János Richter Hall in Győr was inaugurated, the title of National Youth Orchestra was established, substantial support was provided for the operation of the Opera House, and the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra was renewed. Much was also done for culture in other fields: the National Dance Theatre and the Uránia National Film Theatre were established, and the new National Theatre was opened. On two occasions, Devich also served on the music board of the National Cultural Fund.
Following the change of government in 2002, János Devich was dismissed from his post, and since then he has devoted himself to teaching and public activities in the world of music. He chairs the Music Committee responsible for allocating funding to orchestras and is regularly invited to serve on selection panels for leadership positions at musical institutions.
János Devich has been a member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts since 2013.