Anna Garzuly-Wahlgren
Born in:
Szombathely, Ungarn
Current centre of life:
Leipzig / Weimar
Instrument:
Flute
Second, third or even fourth instrument:
Piano
My career aspiration as a child:
Princess, gardener, archaeologist, writer, nurse and at some point (quite early) also flutist.
This was the profession my parents envisioned for me:
I don’t think my parents had any specific career aspirations for me. Since I had been singing incessantly since kindergarten, they probably thought early on that their daughter would want to do something with music as a profession.
Works or concert experiences that shaped me:
There are many works and experiences that shaped me, some you can certainly never forget and accompany you for a lifetime. Like my first school choir experience with male voices at grammar school: I was blindsided by how wonderful and round everything suddenly sounds when the music has a clear humming bass. My first big orchestral experience, where I played myself, was with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado. Not only the fantastic sound of the full orchestra, but also Abbado’s very restrained and yet so suggestive and deep musical charisma, will remain in my memory forever. I will also never forget the sad moment when a conductor lay crying on his podium with a hearing loss. But also the great moments in the fantastic Mahler symphonies with Chailly and the unforgettably touching Bruckner symphonies with Blomstedt always warm one’s heart.
Work with the greatest music-making pleasure (and why?):
Oh, I can’t decide! There are so many different musical pleasures from chamber music to playing the piano yourself, accompanying, playing in the orchestra to singing or witnessing music while teaching. Great works always enrich you, but so does singing songs loudly with the children in the forest or calling cuckoo.
I would like a work for my instrument by this composer (and why?):
I appreciate Schumann and his musical world very much and if I had one wish …
I would get up in the middle of the night for that:
We’re in the middle of Corona, and for a little piece of concert experience or opera or theatre, or even a party, I’d get up in the middle of the night right away – just be with each other again!
Special / curious own concert experience:
I played in opera for many years, the ideal place for the strangest occurrences: from musical to linguistic to technical bloopers, opera has it all. It’s mostly situational comedy, but some incidents do make a strong impression, like a lisping Queen of the Night: “Ein Bössssewicht…” or the memorable Tosca performance where the lights suddenly went out completely. But everyone involved shimmied (musically) happily through to the end in the pitch dark.
My most valuable tip for the next generation of musicians:
Never forget that our driving force is the music, not our instrument! Sing as much as possible, don’t be afraid of other instruments and above all, cultivate making music together.
That's what I wish for the future of the classical music scene:
I wish for the general realisation (as a special lesson from the Corona period) that culture is an essential human need. This would finally give the classics and culture the important and necessary place and secure their existence – in education, politics and our daily lives.
That's what I associate with Leipzig as a city of music:
Leipzig has become my second home – I have lived here longer than in Hungary and have put down roots here, both familially and musically. I love this city for its liveliness, openness and kindness. It is the ideal place for every musician to live on and help shape grandiose musical traditions.
Photo: Gert Mothes