SEVERAL Hibernians have been speaking with strong Hungarian accents of late, fog the triumphant tour of Ireland by Robert Houlihan and the Savaria Symphony Orchestra from Szombathely, in north-west Hungary, and the Fire Flower folk-dancers from Paks.
The Hungarians were here for a festival week organised by the indefatigable Hungarian ambassador to Ireland, Mr Laszlo Mohai, to commemorate both the 40th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 and the 1,100th anniversary of the settlement of the Carpathian Basin.
At the Hungarian Embassy in Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin, recently, the Ambassador threw a party for about 40 people from different walks of Irish society who had helped to make the week a success. An intense, hard-working man, with a penchant for delivering wry, introductory speeches in a deadpan style, Mr Mohai was in festive mood, and he had good reason to be.
Plans for the week had begun 18 months previously. They had twisted and turned in a somewhat nerve-jangling manner before taking final shape.
For this correspondent, who was involved in the project at the initial stages, the idea that a 60-piece orchestra was going to be flown from provincial Hungary to Dublin had a dreamlike quality - until the morning of the orchestral rehearsal, when I stepped onto the choir balcony of the National Concert Hall, looked down at the stage, and a hazel-eyed Hungarian with a cello smiled at me. They were here.
Rip-roaring Performance
That night, the 30 men and 30 women gave a rip-roaring performance under the baton of maestro Robert Houlihan, a native of Kerry who has been the Savaria Symphony Orchestra's principal conductor and artistic director for several years. The musicians had worn casual clothes during the morning rehearsal, but that night their black evening attire sparkled and their hair shone.
The concert hall was packed and buzzing. The opening selections, by Erkel and Kodaly were greeted enthusiastically. Then the long, gleaming, Steinway was wheeled on to the stage and out came Finghin Collins, a 19-year-old Dubliner who earlier that week had won second prize in the European Music Competition for Youth.
The tawny-haired young man sat at the keyboard and began to play Brent Parker's Piano Concerto No 1 in G Major, inspired by the Hungarian Uprising. As he performed, Finghin looked like a beautiful horse running through a field. He galloped through the first movement, then the second and third, the hero/soloist pitted against the authoritarian force of the orchestra.
"I could hear the tanks," said one concert-goer. Another wept. The tension for the audience, made up of many music teachers and students, as well as Irish and Hungarian business people, was electrifying.
Tumultuous Applause
Twenty-two minutes later, the work was over and the audience erupted. Robert Houlihan signalled for the composer, Brent Parker, to take the stage. As the tall, dignified New Zealander climbed the steps, the crowd let out a roar as if it were at a soccer match. Brent Parker bowed deeply to the Hungarian orchestra, and then turned to the audience to accept tumultuous applause.
A gifted 19-year-old violinist, Gwendolyn Masin, who is of Hungarian descent, played Sarasate's Gypsy Airs Jor Violin and Orchestra, and Suzanne Murphy's performance exuded star quality. The musicians, clearly enjoying themselves, topped it all off with Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 as only Hungarians could play it, followed by many encores, introduced by Robert Houlihan, who invited the entire 1,200-member audience to Szombathely - which, he informed us, was mentioned as the birthplace of Leopold Bloom's father in James Joyce's Ulysses.
Standing Ovation
Finghin Collins took a break from practising the piano recently to describe the rest of the orchestral tour for The Irish Times. He reported a standing ovation in Tralee for the orchestra and its local hero, Robert Houlihan, to the delight of the founder and artistic director of Siamsa Tire, Father Pat Ahern, whose early support in bringing the orchestra to Ireland had been crucial.
In Limerick, it was Suzanne Murphy's night. The great soprano had sung as a little girl for Hungarian refugees in the area, and now she performed There Is An Isle for more than 1,000 people, including the Lord Mayor of Limerick, in the University Concert Hall. The President, Mrs Robinson, who was in attendance, congratulated the soloists afterward, Finghin said, and, at the Hungarian Ambassador's invitation, addressed the orchestra through an interpreter.
Tapping Feet
Back in Dublin, the Fire Flower dance troupe was shaking the stage with the Rinceoiri Ui She in a performance from Riverdanee that sounded like a thousand tapping feet. Over at Merrion Square, the American College, Dublin, was doing its bit for the cause, hosting an exhibition of sculpture and photographs of peasant life in Transylvania, in Speranza's former salon in the Oscar Wilde house.
While the purpose of the week was to commemorate the past, the festival had one foot, firmly planted in the present. It created new artistic and business links, poignantly highlighted Hungary's position as it awaits membership of the European Union, and earned a place as an unusual footnote in Irish-Hungarian cultural history.
Mr Mohai, who spearheaded the operation and obtained the sponsorship, was mindful of Ireland's role as current president of the EU and of its help to Hungary in the past. "Forty years ago we made a desperate attempt to return to the place we had held for centuries in the family of the European nations," the Ambassador said. After the 1956 Uprising had been crushed, forcing many Hungarians to seek shelter in Western countries, "Ireland was one of those who offered help and home for the hopeless Hungarians," he said. "We will never forget that."
Given the success of the festival and the strengthening of Irish-Hungarian cultural ties, maybe Robert Houlihan and his orchestra will come back to Ireland next year for another encore.