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Although there are many photos of Béla Bartók from the twenties, thirties and forties, only a few pieces of film have remained, all together less than thirty seconds. It was therefore a great surprise when an amateur film by an Hungarian American came to light who recorded a performance of Bartók in his own apartment in New York on September 26, 1942. Ironically enough without sound! Musicologist Lendvai and pianist TUSA begin with a kind of musical archaeology to discover what he was playing. Of course, the film is first shown back to front, an error resulting from the double perfo. Once that has been corrected, there is confusion about the speed; Bartók is a virtuoso, certainly at 24 frames per second. His hands over the keys show a fragment from Allegro Barbaro, but what is he playing in the next shot, when only his upper body is in frame? The two researchers reconstruct from his physical position a suitable portion, once again from Allegro Barbaro. Finally, the fragments, intercut with black, are combined with a gramophone recording of Bartók from 1931 in which he plays his own composition. Voilà!
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Erik Daams
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Camera: Gábor Szabó, With: Béla Bartók, Executive producer: András Tóth, Piano: Erzsébet TUSA, With: Erszébet TUSA, Ernó Lendvai, With thanks to: György Székely, In collaboration with: Katalin Hufnagl, Sándor Barabás, Péter Hollós, Péter Kovács, Production: MTV FMS Studio Budapest
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