Marton Vizy

Marton Vizy (born 2 December 1977) is a Hungarian singer-songwriter, musical composer from based in Budapest, Hungary. Marton is the composer of the Hungarian hit musical Én, József Attila (Me, Attila József), which perfromed at the Madach Theatre, Budapest.

Early life

Marton Vizy was born in Budapest, Hungary into a large family (he has 8 siblings). He grew up at Kodály Circle (on Andrassy Avenue) in the house where the famous music composer Zoltán Kodály lived. Half of his mother’s family live in the United States. Marton is the second son of psychologist Zsuzsanna Kovacs and photographer Zsigmond Vizy.

Marton’s relationship with music began at the age of 7 when his grandfather bought a piano for the family. Marton started to explore the instrument for his own joy and by listening to the radio he basically self-taught himself. During his teenage years he learnt playing guitar as well and took the instrument with him to Oxford, England where he spent a year in 2000.

Career

Returning from England, during the spring of 2002 he composed the famous song „Örvendj Magyarország” (Celebration song for Hungary) to tribute the changes of the political system in the early 1990s (the fall of communism and the rise of democracy). The song’s success was immediate and profound: within a few weeks it was downloaded by tens of thousands of people and the song was featured on political rallies before the general elections. As Marton describes: 

“Literally, from one day to the next I found myself on the big stage in front of huge crowds singing my pop hymn together with the most famous Hungarian actors, artists. All that happened simply overnight.”

 Half a year later, the song was released on CD and became a best-selling album in a few months time.  Soon after this, Marton was asked to write music for the best-selling Hungarian band, Nox. The song “Fire Dance” became one of the band’s most popular songs. The CD reached the Hungarian platinum status (60,000 copies) within three month which was absolutely unique.

 In 2005, he commemorated the 100th year anniversary of the birth of the famous Hungarian poet, Attila József, setting his poems to music. The album - the first of its kind that uses modern mainstream musical solutions in the style of the arrangement - received the title “Fire Fragments”.

“I decided to set the poems to music in a very modern way as if they were pop song lyrics. I was very proud of the result because this was the first time when I set a text to music and not the other way around.”

 This was the album that inspired David Agoston Tóth (musical co-author) – upon purchasing and hearing it in 2006 – to propose to Marton to write a musical based on Attila József’s mysteriorus life. They started working together soon.

In 2009, Madách Theatre (one of Europe’s leading musical theatres in Budapest) announced a contest for new musicals. David and Marton submitted their play and passing through various qualifiers it got into the final of that competition. The director of the Theatre, Tamás Szirtes, liked the play and didn’t hesitate to put it on the grand stage.

The piece with the final title, Me, József Attila was premiered on 10^th of February, 2012 and it was an imminent success. The audience fell in love with the piece and its fame quickly spread. Tickets were sold 2-3 months in advance for every show. The Hungarian National Television requested a recording of the performance immediately:  the show will be aired in October 2012 nationwide. The subsequent album containing the musical numbers were released in October, 2012.

Marton is currently working on new songs and album for release next year, and also alongside with David are working on a new musical project.

Personal life

Marton met the painter-student Sara Osgyanyi in a crowd at a political rally in 2002. Marton later learned it from Sara that she unknowingly listened to Marton’s piano playing passing by below his window, for Marton’s house was in the vicinity of the University of  Fine Arts. Two years later in 2004 they got married, but 4 years later in 2008 the couple divorced. The main love song of Marton’s musical (“Áldalak búval, vigalommal” – “I worship you with sorrow and joy”) was written and dedicated to Sara in 2002. As Marton said: 

“Sara showed me this poem and I set it to music for her in a couple minutes the next day. The song formed the basis of my album later and the album formed the basis of the musical in turn. It also summarized my previous years in a very special way.”

David A. Tóth

Life

David A. Tóth (born 4 August, 1975), author of the acclaimed Hungarian musical Én, József Attila (Me, Attila József) (2012) started writing at the age of 10. Still as a kid, his vivid imagination inspired him writing thrillers, science fiction or western stories that brought him early recognition at school. David, however, later persuaded himself to have a “normal” profession first that would enable him to write later. Soon he found himself learning business communication in the United States. After gaining two degrees in English and in Communication (B.A. and M.A.) at the Catholic University of Hungary, he was awarded with two different scholarships to study in the USA. David spent almost 6 years of his life there (Virginia, Cleveland, OH, and New York City) studying Communications Management at John Carroll University, Cleveland. Having become bilingual, he calls the States “my second home.”

The inspiration of writing fiction has never left him, though: as a hobby, he kept working on film stories and plots of which he has dozens. 

“When I’m travelling and take the airplane for example, I usually get off with a film story worked out in my mind from the beginning till the end.”

He also wrote lyrics for his brother’s rock band, Blind Myself - one of the tracks, ‘Lost in Time’ with an award-winning music video received international acclaim in 2007.

In 2006 David met Marton Vizy and the meeting proved to be the start of an exciting artistic collaboration for both of them. David and Marton immediately started working on tracks for Marton’s solo album and soon developed an idea of a musical, that later became the musical hit with the title, Me, Attila József about the world famous Hungarian poet, Attila József.

In 2010, Madách Theatre (one of Europe’s leading musical theatres in Budapest) announced a competition for new musicals. David and Marton submitted their play and a year later it got into the final of that competition. The director of the Theatre and the head of the jury Tamás Szirtes, liked the play and soon accepted the play to be performed alongside the greatest musicals of all time on the big stage. The premier of the was on 10 February, 2012.

“I think the secret of Én, József Attila is that it's successful on three different levels: on the level of drama, music and of poetry. These elements combined transform the musical into an unforgettable artistic and dramatic event for all types of audiences.”

David’s ars poetica is best described by his own words: 

 “First of all, a musical writer should find the myth – not just an interesting story – that resonates with contemporary audiences. Second, the author should find a convincing and modern approach to the subject matter in terms of story line, symbols and - most importantly - situations that cry out for music. Thirdly, they should always think in terms of scene changes, choreography, lightning and sounds as well. All these contribute to the success of a musical. But first and foremost, the musical should have a great story and a strong message.”

David is currently working on his new musical with Marton.

Personal life

David was born as the second son of György and Ágnes Tóth, both of them geologists. He has 3 brothers and all four of them play music.  The family lived in a beautiful area of the Buda side of the city, close the Buda-hills national park. This was a lifelong experience for David who said that the 

“The Sváb (Schwab)-Hill area is, for me, one of the most exciting places in the Universe. Close to the downtown of a magical European city and yet by the side of forests with crystal clear air with the city skyline as a backdrop is a quality I hope I will enjoy for the rest of my life. And, I think, looking at things from afar while exploring your inner worlds remained the ruling attitude in me ever since. ” 

 David married Anett Eszményi (37) in 2012, a popular news anchor of a nationwide Hungarian TV channel in. The couple resides in Budapest.