Pianist from Switzerland

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 783, 23 July 1954, Page 29

Pianist from Switzerland

\VJHEN The Listener called at the WaringTaylor Street Studios of the NZBS to see the visiting Hungarian pianist Bela Siki, the first thing he told us, with a handshake and a very friendly smile, was that his Eng-° lish wasn’t very good. But his wife’s, he assured us, was better, and when she presently joined us she helped over the difficult bits in a pleasant threesided conversation. Bela Siki has lived in Switzerland for the past seven years, and it. was_ while teaching at the conservatory in Geneva that he met his Swiss wife, who also plays the. pianothough she wasn’t, she said, actually one of his pupils. They live now in a town of about 13,000 people 1000 metres up in the mountains near the French border. Neuchatel

is the nearest big city. "But we also spend part of the time in Geneva, where my parents live," Madame Siki said. Bela Siki admitted that though he lived in Switzerland he wasn’t at home very much-tours took him away most of the time. Touring he thought was valuable for a pianist, who was always learning. "It’s not only a question of playing," he said, "but also of adaptation and experience." Though he has played in England and a number of European countries, this is his first tour further afield. He came to New Zealand direct from Switzerland, and will go on to Australia, Indonesia and Malaya, getting back home some time before Christmas. Next year he hopes to visit South America. His wife goes with him on his longer tours, and does his secretarial work, and she enjoys travelling and seeing new countries. When The Listener talked to Bela Siki about music he told us he had no "favourite" composer and didn’t want to become a specialist. "I like the good music," he said, "not the composer."

And while he enjoys the work of a composer like Debussy, his preference generally is for pure music. Did he prefer public recitals to purely broadcast ones? Bela Siki smiled and said it might be the wrong place to say so, but, yes, he did. Broadcasting, he said, was important in England, where he had played for the BBC, but on the Continent there was much less use of major artists for studio work, though important concerts were, of course, broadcast. Mr. Siki said he did a lot of concerto work and remarked that it was much more strenuous than solo recitals. "It’s a dialogue, you see," he said, "and you must find the significance of this dialogue." It was necessary to be in accord with orchestra and conductor, and conductors varied a great dealeven the best of them-when it came to conducting a concerto. The conductor must follow the artist, and often he didn’t do this. Mr. Siki added that though he hadn’t played with Warwick Braithwaite before he was looking forward to doing so, because an opera conductor was generally good to work with. Did he feel nervous before a concert? No, not nervous, not anxious, but tense, which he thought was necessary. After all, it was not a matter he should feel indifferent about. But Madame Siki admitted that she did feel nervous"more nervous than my husband’-at his concerts, which she always attends when touring with him. Back home Bela Siki has a few pupils from England, Spain and other countries, who come to him for two or three weeks at a time, but he -is away too much to allow time for much teaching. He likes books and enjoys social life. "And." said Madame Siki, "in thé summer he likes to swim." That is a recreation she enjoys, too. . Did she, we-asked as a last question, play’ the piano? She said she «did when she could-when her husband was not _ practising (which we gathered not be very often), and when he ’ was touring alone. Bela Siki’s last appearance in New Zealand will be at a solo recital in the Wellington Town Hall on Monday, July 26, and he will leave for Aus--tralia two days later.