The management under which I made my debut was as unorthodox as might be expected from the efforts of a Hungarian dramatic agent on behalf of a boy-violinist. Thus it happened that I was managed by two “outsiders”: one, a former music critic, or it may have been singing teacher, of German origin, a flashy dresser and glib talker, offspring of respectable Rhine-wine importers; the other, a backer of stage plays and touring stock-companies who had never before ventured into the concert field. This unconventional managerial setup brought about an equally unconventionally framed debut: it was a hybrid orchestral plus piano-accompanied-recital affair. I played- I believe- two concerti, the Ernst and the Mendelssohn, in the smallish recital hall where even an orchestra of reduced numbers was somewhat out of place, following them by virtuoso and salon pieces accompanied on the piano. << less