What music would you recommend for our audiences while they are isolated at home? What do you listen to and what do you like to play to improve your mood?

I think we should listen to pieces which transmit positive energy, such as Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite. I personally also need to listen to popular music in addition to classical music. Whether it is classical music or popular music, what is key is that we listen only to quality performances and talented performers! This is exactly what I do at home here. I could not be more pleased that my 13-year-old daughter is a fan of The Beatles and Abba, to name just a few; but I’m also trying to keep up with contemporary performers. As for what I play during the quarantine... I go to my library of sheet music and to YouTube to find pieces suitable for our Quarantine soirées - these are the pieces I then practice and play. Just the other day, we were hoping to rehearse a Bach sonata together with my friend Rita Sovány (a BFO cellist - the ed.), via Skype, but unfortunately it just did not work. We would either lose the audio, or there would be a lag of a full eighth-note in the sound. We were very disappointed that the tech gremlins interfered, but we will not give up trying!

What do you do in the time you otherwise would have spent with the orchestra? With whom do you make music at home, and how?

I spend some of my time on household chores and studying with my children, as so many of us are doing these days. I practice each day. I rehearse for the Quarantine soirées, but I’m also learning Verdi’s Falstaff, because I hope to master it by the time we perform it again in New York in August. I very much hope that by then, this quiet period because of the coronavirus will be no more than a bad memory.

Have you learned anything new during the quarantine? Have you perhaps picked up any new habits?

Yes! Thanks to all this free time and to the terrific people who make videos or lessons available online, I have started doing yoga regularly. I can already feel the positive impact it is having on me. We, musicians, should always be paying attention to our spines. Unfortunately, and primarily due to a lack of time, I have not always been doing enough on that front. Additionally, I spend an hour almost every day in our infrared sauna cabin. This is something that seemed unimaginable until now.

What do you miss the most right now?

Because I live in a house with a yard, I have no reason to complain. We are healthy, and have everything we need. What I would like is for fewer and fewer people to fall ill each day. I certainly miss orchestral music-making already, but it does help that through the Quarantine soirées we are able to remain in touch. Many of us love one another almost as family. I miss making music together, and I particularly miss our sold-out concerts at Müpa Budapest!

What do you like about the quarantine?

The freedom! The freedom for a new world to open up even despite being shut in. I can study anything - like a new foreign language, for instance. I get to decide, and my tasks no longer determine my day. I can practice a lot more on my instrument; I can learn new concerts and pieces. Of course, running a household with two children and cooking every day is a lot, but I still have more time than I used to.

Is there anything in your life for which you never had time before, but always wanted to do - and now you’ve been able to try it?

I’m still getting a feel for this, and I know more new things are still to come. Doing yoga, for instance, and sitting in the sauna, or regularly playing board games with my children...in the past, these would have needed more time.

Tune in to our Quarantine soirées each night! Visit our website and Facebook page every evening from 7:45 p.m. CEST. If you would like to support our series, we would appreciate it very much.