The diva Eva Marton has enhanced the Hungarian musical culture’s reputation for more than two decades. In early autumn she had a concert with her friends in the Budapest Congress Center and she sang Béla Bartók’s Five Hungarian Folk Songs in the Hungarian State Opera in the semi-centenary of the composer’s death. Eva Marton was interviewed by Éva Szendi Horváth.
- In our life, which is bounded to the soil, we often bethink ourselves of that: where does a world star feel at home?
- After my graduation we lived with our son at the flat of our parents. We couldn’t hope a positive response for our claim to a flat, so we decided in 1972 that we settled down in Frankfurt because of my frequent works in Germany. After that we always chose our homes depending on my engagements. For this reason we bought our house in Hamburg, which was our home through ten years. Our children were brought up there.
- How is it possible to raise a child in a foreign country without losing the roots?
- We always meticulously attended to our children’s Hungarian identity. Our daughter studied in a Hungarian high school, where she could learn the severe orders of the self-sufficiency as a college student. Now she is 21 years old. She considers herself Hungarian and she can make her way in the world everywhere. My 29-year-old son lives at home in Hungary and he is a happy father of my two darling grandchildren.
- Since 1988 You have lived in the wonderful Monte Carlo. How much time do You spend at Your home?
- My life is a perpetual run. So I can spend only three or four months in a year at home. The rehearsals are in close, dusty, dark and nifty rehearsing rooms from early morning to late night. I see light only almost in the mornings. If I travel, there are only artificial light in the plans, too. If a performance-series start, I live under easier circumstances. Between two performances I have three or four free days, when I read, I go to museums, I listen music: I gain new experiences, what I can utilize later, in my roles.
- A civilian woman is the alpha and the omega of a family. How can somebody, who is perpetually on the road, fulfill this role?
- I have known my husband for 32 years and we celebrated our 30th anniversary in 1995. He has always worked much more than me, he has taken every problem of our home upon himself. He was a head surgeon in Hamburg to 1993, he taught in the university and he encouraged me in my premiers. It’s a joy to live with him: he is always cheerful, he is never fractious; when he enters the room, the sun begins to shine. I’m a lucky woman. Without him my life would be harder and worse.
- What do You do at first when You arrive home?
- I put on easy-fitting clothes, I go out to the balcony, from where I can see to Menton and I deeply breathe the wonderful sea air. The Mediterranean climate has so fantastic effect, which is similar to a regenerative cure.
- What are Your viewpoints about the interior decorating?
- Our home isn’t great, but it’s comfortable. The piano is taking up too much room. I beat it all day long. I like the beautiful things, but I’m not an art collector. I have never wished to possess such things, in which only I – and not others – can take delight
- Do You have any favorite place in Your home?
- As I mentioned, I spend a lot of time by the side of the piano, above which my husband placed three pictures, what I got from the standing audience of La Scala in Milano. It’s an old tradition that the impecunious, but music lover standing regulars gift their favorite artist every year. They contribute some money and buy a present, which they give with the performance’s poster, signed by each of them. If I lift up my eyes to these, I’m always touched by this manifestation of the audience’s love and this spurs me on further achievements.
- Which is Your favorite food?
- I like the masterworks of the Chinese kitchen very much. My favorite is the Lychee Beef: the beef is stewed in a honey-orange sauce and it’s served with a lychee, which is a fruit.
- Do You cook?
- I like those hotel suites, which has kitchen. My husband loves my cooking very much and I can do everything, too. Now we would like to lose some weights, so we are on a diet: we eat many salads and vegetables with frutti di mare or with turkey meat.
- Can You share the secret of a light lunch with us?
- I mix garlic, onion, green spices with olive oil and the juice of a half lemon. I flavor it with a little salt and with sugar, then I pour on the torn lettuce. It’s an excellent midday meal with a smack of turkey breast’s stripes or with a smack of shrimp. Try it! You won’t be disappointed!
Tips of Eva Marton
It’s possible to be on a diet, during which we are well! For breakfast it’s enough some nature yoghurt mixed with seasonal fruits. Let’s put a spoon of honey to the bottom of a little bowl and let’s pour on fruit yoghurt.
And after the meal: some sweet!
We eat almost black bread made from ground flour, from six or eight kinds of corn. It helps the digestion and it cleans the excreta. I suggest it for everybody!
It’s worth buying a lot of good bread at the same time and then it’s worth frosting these. We can transform it into fresh bread with warming in oven in no time.
Éva Szendi Horváth
(Meglepetés. 1996/2.)