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Pianist Schiff says government anger hinders his return to Hungary

Jan 16, 2011, 11:14 GMT

Frankfurt - Andras Schiff, the pianist, says he no longer dares return home to his native Hungary after publicly criticizing the government, according to an interview published in Germany Sunday.

In a joint public appeal last week to the musicians of the world, Germany-based Schiff, the Hungarian orchestral conductor Adam Fischer and six others have attacked the Hungarian law on media oversight.

'I am absolutely persona non grata in Hungary now. I don't believe I'll ever perform in Hungary again, or even visit,' he told the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. 'I'm not the hero type.'

Criticizing a loss of independence in state-funded music, 'What's going on now in Hungary reminds me of some of the awful dictatorships. Politicians interfere in the choice of singers or decide who is going to play first clarinet in an orchestra.'

Fischer resigned his post as head of music at the Hungarian State Opera in October, complaining at government interference in the enterprise in Budapest. Schiff and Fischer later attacked the direction Hungary was taking under its conservative government.

They published their appeal on the internet in German.

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