<<  -- 5 --  Bill Newman    THE HUNGARIAN NIGHTINGALE

After the war, she had many letters from Toni. He was in the States about to begin his tenure with American symphony orchestras, starting with Dallas in Texas. Married to his childhood sweetheart, Klari, his young daughter Tonina was five years old and he was full of news about auditioning and selecting personnel. He composed for them a special American Tribute in thankfulness for being spared the trials and tribulations of the war. 'His letters to me always centred around his private thoughts and the family. Much later, I had a flat in Zurich for eight years. Friends who had a house there had asked me to come. Toni was then married to Ilse, but we were always just brother and sister in love with one another.'

Eventually, you met your second love, spending seven happy, idyllic years with him. 'After his death, I didn't wish to stay in his flat, so I looked for another one. I went round with an agent helping me. It should be in Munich and house my possessions with a room for my piano, and my soul should say "yes". We looked at several, but I didn't find one. At last, he said, 'I have one you will be enchanted with.' And it was the worst. Everywhere, it had subdivided glass, so I asked him what I should do. I had furniture, where would I house it? By this time, he'd had enough and turned sour. He returned in his car to his Bureau whereupon his young assistant told to him to telephone Eurasberg. I went myself to look at it. It was ugly -- wall to wall carpets. A small room, a wall with an alcove. But now, it had another large one. The houseowner also allowed me to convert so I could be together with loved ones. I like to have guests living here for awhile, and have been here for thirty years, can you imagine?'

'The other flat we lived in was in Munich. Previously, I also had a fourteen room residence in Berlin and a five room flat in Hamburg, each containing enormous amounts. I gave much away but still had more than enough! And, there was my love Tibor's flat in Berlin. When I left Zurich, I thought of Konstanz, nearby. It was cheaper, but it didn't work. So I put everything in storage for three years, then a lady cellist friend who was taking part in a performance of Mendelssohn's Octet introduced me to a further Munich flat. I looked at it, but in those last years I was never strong enough to commute.'

This reads like a sequence from your autobiography, similar to the internet where you can delve, discuss, decide on your own life style. 'Most of all, I love to translate from English into Hungarian. As you know, I translated Toni's book -- his autobiography. I have only one copy -- but it is not published. I would start, then rest awhile and continue. It took perhaps two years.'