Vol 2, No 12, 27 March 2000

C O N T E M P O R A R Y  M U S I C: The Mind Is a Free Creature The Music of György Kurtág Rachel Beckles Willson Although Kurtág, Hungary's leading contemporary composer, is a taciturn man, his work is effused with the influence of words and speech.
I N T E R V I E W: From Táncház to Concert Band Paul Nemes Ghymes started off as a small Hungarian folk ensemble in Slovakia and, feeling the need to speak to a broader audience, graduated on to becoming a concert band which has won international acclaim.	R E V I E W: Kurtág in Edinburgh Rachel Beckles Willson Last year, Kurtág was the featured composer at the distinguished Edinburgh festival. One of the more interesting events was the British premiere of Samuel Beckett: ...pas à pas - nulle part.

C L A S S I C A L: Zoltán Kodály, Modernism and Hungarian Folk Music Sue Bagust Bartók became one of the 20th century's "canonised" composers for his blending of folk and art music. However, it is often forgotten that Zoltán Kodály, Bartók's collaborator in folk studies, laid a substantial foundation for modern music in Hungary in this respect.

R E V I E W: World Music at Play Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene Andrew James Horton Erzsi Kiss and her band draw on an eclectic range of sources to create a "virtual world music" which is both a mature and sophisticated synthesis of musical conventions and childishly good fun.

R O C K: Not for Dummies Mel Huang After Crying is one of the most innovative bands on the Hungarian music scene and stands at the forefront of "intelligent" music, not only in Hungary but as far as Venezuela.

R O C K: From Beats to Bass Blade Runner with Gusztáv Kosztolányi A Brief History of beat and rock Music in Hungary.

 

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Essay  of  the  Month:

On the Inside Looking Out:
Austria's New ÖVP-FPV Government,
Jörg Haider, and Europe
Lonnie Johnson
March's Essay of the Month is a revised and expanded version of Lonnie Johnson's earlier essay on Jörg Haider, Austria and the EU's over-reaction to the FPV's rise to power.

 

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Kinoeye at The Oscars:

T H E  O S C A R S:
Hollywood Finally Cottons On
Wajda's work acknowledged by Tinseltown
Andrew James Horton
On Sunday, that mutual back-slapping event for pro-America English-language cinema, the Oscars, gave Andrzej Wajda an award for lifetime achievement. This could be seen as an admission that it has until now shamefully under-rated the great Polish director - and indeed all "foreign" cinema. Kinoeye looks at why this neglect of Wajda is so shocking.

Other articles on Wajda

A Bygone Harmony Andrzej Wajda's Pan Tadeusz

Pan Tadeusz in France Wajda's film gets a mixed reception abroad

A Glossy Symbolism Andrzej Wajda's Panna Nikt

For links to external articles about Wajda see the Kinoeye Archive

 

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Kinoeye:

Kinoeye continues its look at the Neue deutsche Filme section of this year's Berlin International Film Festival.

B E R L I N A L E:
Devilishly Bad
Bernd Eichinger's Der Große Bagarozy
Elke de Wit
Bernd Eichinger is a well established and respected producer. His directing debut would suggest that he might be better off remaining one.

NEW!!!
THE KINOEYE VIDEO STORE
Central European cinema available on video and DVD

THE KINOEYE ARCHIVE
Resources on Central and East European cinema.

 

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CER's Regular Columnists:

ČULÍK'S CZECH REPUBLIC: Hitler's Mein Kampf in Czech: Books are still being banned in Europe Jan Čulík Controversy surrounds the recent publication of a Czech language version of Hitler's Mein Kampf, and moves are afoot to have it banned.
AMBER COAST: A Leap into the Unknown Mel Huang Results from the 19 March local elections in Lithuania saw the country take perhaps its first step into the political unknown in this year of double electoral jeopardy.	Receive CER free via e-mail

BALKAN ENCOUNTER: The Janus Look Sam Vaknin Which should the West plump for: an affable though ineffectual and constantly inebriated Yeltsin-style leader or a thinly disguised authoritarian like Vladimir Putin?		MIORIŢA: Asylum Seekers in Britain Catherine Lovatt Romanians and Britains alike, have responded with a similar attitude to the 'problem of the begging Roma.' They take our money, pollute our streets, hound us, but to associate the actions of a few with the many would be a mistake.

 

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U K   P r e s s   R e v i e w

Women and Children First
Oliver Craske
This week, we begin a new regular feature which will look at the stories of Central and Eastern Europe that make it into the UK media. In the coming weeks and months, we will be regularly monitoring CEE-related issues in print and broadcast media as well as focusing on larger topics such as EU accession. In our first installment, we begin with the topic that has recently sparked off a xenophobic furore on the drizzly island: those damn gypsies.

Books and Literature

S U P P L E M E N T:
The CER Book Shop:
Books about Central and Eastern Europe
Have a look at CER's list of books on the region - all available from Amazon.com. The updated list is spread across several pages and contains many new offerings.

O n   D i s p l a y

EVENTS: Coming up in the UK Andrew James Horton Details of selected Central and East European cultural events in the UK over the next few weeks.	EVENTS: Coming up in the USA Karen M Laun Central and East European events in the United States in the coming weeks.
EVENTS: Poland Cultural Review Wojtek Kość A look at the latest cultural events and culture news in Poland.