Laszlo Des remembers:
After my Trio Stendhal concert on a spring day in 1993, the director of the Víg Theatre came to my dressing room to congratulate on the performance and with great enthusiasm he started to tell me about his great idea on a musical topic: The Jungle Book. Later, we sat down to discuss the details but I asked for his patience for I was busy composing another musical: Somewhere in Europe.After a time the theatre ran out of their patience so while rehearsing Somewhere in Europe, with the director, the writer Pal Bekes, and the dramaturge Zsuzsa Radnoti we started to work on the libretto. Pal was open, creative and patient and he rewrote the play minimum six times (he first version was like a horror story covered in blood, the next one was more of a comedy) before the final form and plot was born.The composer even in this phase has an important role: he must decide where and how the music will sound which determines the structure of the play.Another important question demanded an answer: Who will write the lyrics? I threw in Geszti’s name to the old theatre foxes’ surprise. „A rapper in the theatre?!” Although I didn’t really know Geszti very well either and we had never worked together before, somehow I knew this job will suit him so I convinced them. He accepted the invitation and we started working in June 1995. I was deeply immersed in musical writing anyway for Somewhere in Europe opened only a month before. I allowed myself not more than a two-week-holiday because the opening day for the Jungle was already set: 26 January 1996.Before sitting down at the piano, several essential things expected me to decide on: what will be the musical world of the play like? Ethnic? Indian? Or a rock-opera like: theatrical, romantic or neoclassic? Brrr! No way!!!While writing the libretto, our picture was that the story may take place anywhere, in any jungle, even in a great city’s jungle, so I chose to follow the intrinsic qualities of the characters and the features we, humans attributed to them. This is why Shere Khan’s sings a demagogue blood-demanding rock song, the funeral entrepreneur vulture’s song cherishing their service reminds us of the show business, the dangerously coiling python, Kaa’s music is more Oriental and so on. The musical world of The Jungle Book is undoubtedly ecceltical, colourful and diversified. I like humor and irony in music and here a field of opportunities opened up for me. All in all, my main purpose was that the music reflect the features of the characters, deepen the situations, strengthen and determine the rhythm of the play.And one more thing I was to consider: since this play was produced for a prosaic theatre, and the singers are not professionals but theatre actors, I was supposed to be careful with the range of voice and complexity of the songs.But be honest: singing any songs precisely, authentically, beautifully is art in itself.
