György Vashegyi dates the beginning of his career to a concert held on 21 April 1989 in the Aula of the Faculty of Law, Budapest.[1] The program featured two odes by Henry Purcell – Welcome to all the pleasures (Z. 339) and Come ye Sons of Art (Z. 323) – as well as Antonio Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater (RV 621), performed by the mixed choir of the Ságvári Endre Secondary School and the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra. With this program, Vashegyi clearly signalled the direction he wished to pursue in the future: dramatic vocal works and so-called “early music” – compositions outside the mainstream repertoire, particularly those considered rarities in Hungary.
The following year, on 1 May 1990 (the day of the inaugural session of the first freely elected Hungarian Parliament), the Purcell Choir gave its debut concert. The ensemble, founded in the autumn of 1989, reflected Vashegyi’s experiences from masterclasses with Helmuth Rilling and John Eliot Gardiner.[2] The concert took place in the Grand Hall of the Academy of Music, featuring (in Hungary then-unknown) Blow’s Venus and Adonis and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Z. 626) with the Erkel Ferenc Chamber Orchestra. The Purcell Choir attracted particular attention for being composed entirely of singers of soloist caliber.[3] The concert’s success was evident: it had to be repeated on 28 December in the same venue. Their 2 December performance of Bach cantatas also drew critical praise – Kristóf Csengery, writing in Muzsika, lauded both the choir and Vashegyi, highlighting the conductor’s conscientious preparation, his ability to inspire the musicians’ individual creative engagement, and the “inspired” coordination of the performance.[4] Another positive feature noted by critics was the distribution of printed booklets containing both the original texts and Vashegyi’s Hungarian translations – an educational element that has remained a hallmark of his concerts ever since.
On 3 April 1991, György Vashegyi made his operatic conducting debut at the Budapest Chamber Opera, directing Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with the Concerto Armonico ensemble. According to music critic Géza Fodor, Vashegyi was “very young and exceptionally promising.” Though Fodor expressed some reservations regarding the “theatrical complexity that requires divided attention and focus,” he emphasized that Vashegyi’s “historical awareness and profound musicality are unmistakable, and his approach to historically informed interpretation is both creative and modern – authentic in every historical and contemporary sense.” [5]
That same year saw the founding of the Orfeo Orchestra (initially the Orfeo Chamber Orchestra), which gave its first concert on 24 April in the Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy of Music, performing Monteverdi’s Orfeo in concert form. (It was likely no coincidence that Vashegyi presented the two Orfeo operas so close in time: in the summer of 1988, Gardiner’s course had focused on the Orfeo operas by Monteverdi, Gluck, and Haydn.)[6]
Over the following years, Vashegyi – described as an “enthusiastic, great organizer” and a “knowledge-hungry, deeply analytical score-reader” – together with his ensembles, became a “central figure in Hungary’s early music community.”[7] In addition to their concerts at the Liszt Academy, they regularly performed Bach cantatas at the Inner City Parish Church and Matthias Church, appeared at the Pesti Vigadó and the Óbuda Community Centre, and participated in Vashegyi’s 1993 diploma concert, which featured Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (K. 620).
However, by 1992 some critics began voicing concern that Vashegyi’s rapid success might lead him into an “artistic treadmill,” resulting in “interpretive looseness.”[8] Although certain performances during this period received enthusiastic reviews – such as the complete presentation of Vivaldi’s L’Estro Armonico, Op. 3, in October 1994 – the accumulation of negative feedback reached its peak around the premiere of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux on 20 January 1995.[9]
In the second half of the decade, this trend reversed – perhaps partly because Vashegyi’s ensembles began to include an increasing number of shorter works in their programs, allowing for greater focus on detailed, meticulous rehearsal work. This, however, did not mean the disappearance of large-scale productions: during these years the ensembles performed Purcell’s The Fairy Queen (Z. 629), Handel’s Belshazzar (HWV 61, conducted by Howard Williams), and the 1741–42 version of Messiah. On April 6, 2000, at the Liszt Academy, Bach’s St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) was performed for the first time in Hungary on period instruments, conducted by György Vashegyi with his ensembles – the very work that had first inspired the young Vashegyi to pursue a career in music. Later that same month, on the 10th anniversary of the Purcell Choir’s founding, they also performed Bach’s other great opus, the Mass in B minor (BWV 233).
This period also marked a broadening of the chronological scope of Vashegyi’s two ensembles: their repertoire came to include an increasing number of works by Haydn and Mozart. On November 4, 1998, in Budapest’s St Stephen’s Basilica, Mozart’s Requiem (K. 626) was performed in what critics described as a “flawless interpretation crying out to be recorded.”[10] In the summer of 1999, they presented Così fan tutte (K. 588) – a performance that, according to critic László Ferenc, was “more captivating than all of the guest artists performing at the Hungarian State Opera that year combined.”[11] By 1999, Vashegyi’s ensembles had reached the Romantic repertoire: on November 4 they performed Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem (op. 45), again for the first time in Hungary on period instruments. Around this time, their striking performances of Gesualdo’s works also drew wide attention.
During these years, Vashegyi achieved a further professional milestone: in 1997, he and his ensembles appeared at the Sopron Early Music Days (where he soon became a key figure, both as a performer and as a teacher), and in 1999 they performed at the Haydn Festival in Fertőd–Eszterháza. A few years later, inspired by Kálmán Strém, the ensembles presented all of Haydn’s symphonies from Eszterháza between 2002 and 2007, using the same instrumental setup Haydn himself employed at the venue.[12] In 1998, Vashegyi and his ensembles released their first recording on the Hungaroton label (Istvánffy: Messa Dedicata al Patriarcha Santo Benedetto. Kraus: Requiem), followed by 17 more recordings by 2010 – the majority being “premier recordings.”
By the turn of the millennium, both ensembles had embarked on major international tours, performing in Israel and France, even though the financial conditions necessary for such intensive artistic work have never been fully secured – a problem Vashegyi has consistently raised on every possible platform.[13]
Alongside his two ensembles, Vashegyi also became an increasingly recognized opera conductor during the 1990s. In addition to the aforementioned Gluck production at the beginning of the decade, he conducted numerous other works with the Budapest Chamber Opera. In December 1998, he led the Romanian premiere of Mozart’s Idomeneo (K. 366) at the Hungarian Opera of Cluj-Napoca. In May 1999 and 2000, he conducted the MÁV Symphony Orchestra, and – showing his openness toward contemporary Hungarian music – he led the concert premiere of Levente Gyöngyösi’s opera A gólyakalifa (The Stork Caliph) in Budapest with the Hungarian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, featuring the composer as the Orfeo Orchestra’s excellent keyboardist.[14]
In August 2000, György Vashegyi made his debut at the Hungarian State Opera House with Haydn’s L’infedeltà delusa (Hob. XXVIII/5). This production was not only a milestone in his career but also significant in the Opera’s history: it marked the debut of stage director Csaba Káel and, with the participation of the Orfeo Orchestra, became the institution’s first opera performance on period instruments.[15] According to Tibor Tallián, Vashegyi focused all his recognized musical, organizational, and “dompteur” abilities on bringing the production to life, emphasizing the refinement of the orchestral playing.[16] Other media outlets – even those outside the field of music criticism – also praised the production highly.[17]
The following season, Vashegyi conducted the Opera’s productions of Così fan tutte and Le nozze di Figaro. In the summer of 2002, as part of the Budapest Opera Festival, he conducted a new staging of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and from the 2003/2004 season onward, he regularly conducted Mozart’s and Verdi’s operas at both the State Opera and the Erkel Theatre. In 2005, he conducted the staged premiere of Levente Gyöngyösi’s A gólyakalifa.
During this period, Vashegyi also became a sought-after guest conductor. In December 2003, he made his debut with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra at the invitation of Zoltán Kocsis. From the late 1990s through the 2000s, he conducted numerous Hungarian and international ensembles, both period-instrument (such as Concerto Armonico, Capella Savaria, Musica Aeterna) and modern orchestras (including the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cluj Philharmonic, the MÁV Symphony Orchestra, the Pannon Philharmonic, the Miskolc Symphony Orchestra, the Óbuda Danubia Symphony Orchestra, the Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra, and the Prague Chamber Orchestra).
In 2005, Vashegyi and his ensembles were invited to perform at the opening of the Müpa Budapest – Festival Theatre , where they presented Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo to great acclaim (March 16, 2005). Later, on the same stage and again in Csaba Káel’s direction, they performed Charpentier’s Actéon and revived Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas. Over the following years, other productions at Müpa – particularly during the renovation of the Liszt Academy between 2009 and 2013 – included Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Rameau’s Pygmalion, Handel’s Hercules (HWV 60), and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. Müpa increasingly became the ensembles’ principal home. Many of these performances were recorded and broadcast by Hungarian Television.[18]
By the 2010s, Vashegyi, the Purcell Choir, and the Orfeo Orchestra had become internationally significant ensembles. Their 2009 concert recording of Michael Haydn’s Der Kampf der Busse und Bekehrung was released by the German label Carus. However, their most resounding success came through performances and recordings of French Baroque and Classical repertoire: in 2012, in collaboration with the Palazetto Bru Zane, they performed and recorded Méhul’s Adrien in Budapest; in 2014, working with the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, they recorded Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les Fêtes de Polymnie.
Although critics have occasionally noted – both early in Vashegyi’s career and more recently – that his concert soloists are often drawn from within his ensembles,[19] this is in fact part of his deliberate and well-considered ensemble-building philosophy. The Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra have nurtured numerous artists who later rose to international prominence, including Klára Kolonits, Atala Schöck, Emőke Baráth, and László Paulik (the latter having recorded two Tartini violin concertos on CD with Vashegyi and the Orfeo Orchestra).
Associated with the two ensembles is also an informal musicological workshop, coordinated by Vashegyi with Anna Scholz and Ágnes Pintér, which prepares the information material required for premieres.[20] A selection of Vashegyi’s research findings has been published in the pages of Muzsika magazine.
Although he never considered himself a “professorial type,”[21] Vashegyi was invited – while still a student, in 1992 – to teach basso continuo at the Liszt Academy of Music. At the request of György Kroó, then head of the Musicology Department, he taught Ausführungspraxis (performance practice) to young musicologists between 1995 and 1997. The initiative was discontinued after two years when subsequent department heads decided not to continue offering the course.[22] Nevertheless, Vashegyi has remained closely connected to the Academy ever since, where he teaches early music chamber performance and early music history.[23]
József Soproni, the Academy’s rector at the time, had already spoken in 1991 about the need for early music courses – even outlining concrete plans for its implementation [24] – but organized early music education at the Liszt Academy only began in 2010, with the establishment of the Early Music Department Group led by György Vashegyi. In the spring of 2011, the first specialized master’s programs were announced in Baroque flute, Baroque oboe, Baroque violin, and fortepiano; in the inaugural 2011/2012 academic year, the department enrolled five students. At Vashegyi’s personal invitation, prominent guest professors such as Malcolm Bilson and Simon Standage joined the department’s teaching staff.[25] Plans for the following academic years already included the introduction of courses in historical cello, viola da gamba, flute and bassoon performance.[26]
From the latter half of the 2000s onward, Vashegyi began working increasingly with the university’s orchestras – initially on a project basis, such as the 2012 Haydn Project, and, from 2014 onward, on a permanent basis.[27] Since the 2014/2015 academic year, he has also been teaching conducting at the Liszt Academy’s main building on Liszt Ferenc Square.[28]
[2016]
[1]http://orfeo.hu/content.php?phase=concerts&subphase=vgy&concert_search_year=1989&concert_search_month=0&filter=210&solist=0 (Last accessed 18 March 2016) All the data for this article concerning the concerts are taken from orfeo.hu.
[2] Zsófia Hózsa: "Az ember mindig azt csinálja, amiben hisz!" 13 May 2015. http://playliszt.reblog.hu/az-ember-mindig-azt-csinalja-amiben-hisz (Last visited 12 March 2016).
[3] i. m.
[4] János Mezei-Cristóf Csengery: "Hangverseny." Muzsika 44/3 (March 1991), 40-48.
[5] Géza Fodor: "Orfeusz aktualitása" Muzsika 44/6 (June 1991), 24-34.
[6] See László J. Győri: "Nem az Auftakt a lényeg. Beszélgetés Vashegyi Györggyel" Muzsika 42/4 (April 1999), 9.
[7] Kristóf Csengery: "Hangverseny." Muzsika 35/2 (February 1992), 44-48.
[8] Kristóf Csengery: “Hangverseny." Muzsika 35/3 (March 1992), 39-45.
[9] See e.g. Kristóf Csengery: "Hangverseny." Muzsika 38/3 (March 1995), 41-46. 43. Almost 20 years later, Vashegyi also found this performance a too "heroic" undertaking, see Hózsa, i. m.
[10] Review by János Breuer from Népszabadság, 3 November 1998, quoted at: http://orfeo.hu/content.php?phase=reviews (Last visited: 18 March 2016)
[11] Ferenc László: "Hangversenykritika. " A Hét, August 08, 1999.
[12] Éva Mikes: "104-en innen, 89-en túl.." Muzsika 51/10 (October 2008), 30-32.
[13] See e.g. J. Győri, i. m.; Mikes, i. m.; Hózsa, i. m., Ur Máté: "A régizene életforma." Fidelio 30/10/2015. http://fidelio.hu/zenes_szinhaz/2015/10/30/a_regi_zene_eletforma/ (Last accessed 12 March 2016).
[14] For its echoes, see for example Porrectus, "Az utolsó év. Századunk Zenéje 2000 – a Magyar Rádió hangversenyciklusáról." Muzsika 43/7 (July 2000), 38.
[15] http://orfeo.hu/content.php?phase=about&subphase=vgy (Last visited 12 March 2016)
[16] Tibor Tallián: "E helyen tobzódó parasztok lármáztak". Budapest Summer Opera Festival at the Opera House - Haydn: L'infedelta delusa." Muzsika 43/10 (October 2000), 33.
[17] László Böröcz: "Bélhúr, forradalom és célfotó." Magyar Narancs 2000/32 (03.08.2000).
[18] http://nava.hu/kereses-eredmenye/?search=%22vashegyi+gy%C3%B6rgy%22&sort=collp (Last visited 18 March 2016)
[19] See, for example, [19] Kristóf Csengery: "Hangverseny." Muzsika 35/2 (February 1992), pp. 44-48, 44, and Zsombor Németh: "Több Rameau-t!" Opera-Világ 10/05/2011. http://operavilag.net/budapest/tobb-rameau-t/ (Last accessed 12 March 2016).
[20] Ur, ibid.
[21] J. Győri, i. m.
[22] i. m.
[23] http://lfze.hu/hu/vonos-tanszek/oktatok/-/asset_publisher/igH6lADMqTfe/content/vashegyi-gyorgy/ (Last visited 12 March 2016)
[24] Mária Feuer: "Lehetőség és kínálat. A conversation with József Soproni." Muzsika 44/6 (June 1991), 10.
[25] János Malina: "Abból kell kiindulnunk, ami összeköt bennünket. Vashegyi György a Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem ősszel induló régizenei tanszékéről." Muzsika 54/5 (May 2011), 6-7 Éva Mikes: "104-en innen, 89-en túl." Muzsika 51/10 (October 2008), 30-32.
[26] Uzsaly Bence András Uzsaly: "Hagyományteremtő kezdeményezés kelt életre." Fidelio 21.05.2012. http://fidelio.hu/eduart/2012/05/21/vashegyi_gyorgy_hagyomanyteremto_kezdemenyezes_kelt_eletre/ (Last visited 12 March 2016)
[27] Uzsaly, i. m.
[28] Hózsa, i. m.