Hayk Melikyan does not change his mind
Famous pianist Hayk Melikyan will not give a solo concert in Hungary during his extensive tour in the autumn of 2012, although that country has already sent a letter of protest to Azerbaijan.
The concert was scheduled to take place on October 23 in Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest, with famous 20th century and contemporary music by Hungarian composers such as Bartok, Ligeti, Kurtak, and Armenian composers including Komitas, Arno Babajanyan, Aram Khachatryuan, and Tigran Mansuryan to be performed.
Despite his admiration for Hungarian composers and Hungarian culture in general, the pianist is sure that each culture has its own uniqueness, including its national identity, which cannot be ignored by performers. "I would not like to offend the Hungarian people because many of them have the same opinion of this shameful event as we have, but in this connection I just couldn't behave otherwise," Hayk Melikyan told A1+.
The pianist does even know when he will wish to give a concert in Hungary again. He confirmed the cancellation of his concert dedicated to music of Hungarian composers as part of his Yerevan series of concerts entitled "1900+".
"It does not mean that I do not regret the fact that the Armenian audience will not enjoy masterpieces of Hungarian music," the pianist noted, adding that everything depends on the course of events.
