“Humanity has never been in such a crisis as it is now, and Hungary has a special responsibility in shaping history,” says Gergely Bogányi. New Year’s conversation with the pianist who recently celebrated his 50th birthday about the worldwide spiritual struggle, the role of art as a spiritual comet and the power of prayer.
- Growing up in a musical family, the children of a choir director father and a piano teacher mother, he and his siblings started playing music quite early. Did your life lead you on a straight path?
“Yes.” I believe that there is a divine will, a perfect plan for every person, and realizing and living it is perfect happiness. That it may be difficult, full of pitfalls or seemingly impossible tasks is not a contradiction at all. For me, being a musician, the profession, and this way of life was really a straight path, from this point of view I can call myself lucky. I got a sense of how to recognize and interpret good music, from my youngest age it shone like a spiritual lighthouse in front of me and in me. Looking back from here, it is clear that this was a calling. An invitation to a task, which includes music, the cause of good music, the representation of Hungarian culture, or even the realization and development of a new instrument. But above all, the name of the task: Hungary. On the one hand, evaluating Hungary’s thousand-year past from a historical perspective, and on the other hand, taking into account my own life, I must understand what my task is in the current historical situation. - The earth labors and gives birth to the future in the Carpathian Basin. What would that be?
Standing up for Christianity and representing Hungary in the world, or both at the same time. For a long time, all this was not so clear or rather conscious to me. A huge transformation is taking place in the world before our eyes, let’s say, the chaff is now being separated from the wheat. A situation like now has never existed before in the history of the world. You can clearly see what one side represents and what the other side represents. There is almost no middle ground. But that’s a good thing, because you have to confess,” reads the interview published on mandiner.hu, in which, among other things, this question is also raised.
- In addition to giving concerts, he has been running a music school near Budapest for more than ten years. What was your ambition when you accepted the position of director of the Sobi music school?
– On the one hand, I wanted to give something back to my homeland; I grew up near the Danube bend, and I still live there today. On the other hand, I am concerned with the fate of the next generation, with winning as many young talents as possible to the cause of good music. It gives me pleasure that our results are good: while it is decreasing elsewhere, our number is constantly increasing, children and parents alike like to come to us. The music school is a team game, and in this lineup, the team captain is just an empty slogan without a team. I can proudly say that our faculty would hold its own anywhere in the world, in any school, as it has been proven many times. Personally, I also have the best assistant principal and school secretary in the world. Or I could mention our wind teachers, cello, piano, solfège teachers, everyone. Our cohesion is also exemplary, which is not common in Hungary, to put it mildly. I am particularly sensitive to this, I really can’t stand it when we touch the other person, especially behind his back. This is a well-known folk disease in our country, which we managed to leave behind in this small community. If we were able to make it happen, and we are constantly refining and living it, why can’t it be made even bigger? This is an important characteristic question that could strengthen the rise of our country.
The full interview with Gergelly Bogányi can be read on mandiner.hu.
The Liszt and Kossuth prize-winning pianist and composer celebrated his 50th birthday on January 4. On this important day, the first symphony of Gergely Bogányi was premiered at the Academy of Music, which was performed together with the Pannon Filmharmonikus. Conducted by Tibor Bogányi.
After the hugely successful jubilee concert, Gergely Bogányi wrote on his social media page: “It was a great experience to celebrate together on January 4th. To all my family members, friends, acquaintances and all dear participants, thank you very much for your honorable presence. Special thanks to the Pannon Philharmonic and Tibor Boganyi for the brilliant performance.”
On behalf of the editors of dunakanyarregio.hu, we warmly welcome the artist Gergely Bogányi, we wish him a very happy birthday!
Photos: Gergely Bogányi’s FB page
