Hungarian pianist to perform recital

Peter Pertis, a former soloist with the Hungarian philharmonic, will give a guest recital at 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Recital Hall. \nA graduate of the Bela Batok Conservatory of Music, Pertis has toured Eastern and Western Europe, South America, the Middle East and Asia. Now giving master's degree classes, he has served as artist in residence at the Musashino Music Academy in Tokyo and the University of Hartford.\n"I've listened to many of his recordings," said Professor Emeritus of Music Henry Upper, chair of the piano department. "And I had the chance to meet him in Budapest, but I've never heard him play. So I'm really looking forward to this."\nPertis will perform a diverse program Thursday, including Debussy, Mozart, Chopin and Liszt.\nImre Pallo, a conductor and music school professor, attested to Pertis' versatility.\n"He's universal in his literature," he said. "And if you look at the evening's program, you'll see a fine selection of different composers. Obviously, he thinks of Hungary as his mother milk and prefers Hungarian composers. But he has a very wide range.\n"We've staid friends for 45 years," Pallo said. "And we've performed piano concertos together in Budapest and upstate New York. He's a good friend and a wonderful musician."\nPertis' background brought about his now renowned virtuosity, Pallo said. \n"He grew up in a very musical Hungarian family," he said. "So it's always been in his blood. You can expect a very beautiful, poetic and musically satisfactory evening."\nPertis came to Bloomington to visit his childhood friend.\n"He had been talking about visiting for a long while, and his schedule was finally freed up," he said. "So this wonderful opportunity (for a recital) presented itself." \nThe recital is free and open to the public.\n"(Pertis's) biography speaks for itself," said Maria Talbert, assistant director of communications for the School of Music. "Considering all the places he's been, you'd be paying a pretty penny if you were seeing him in New York City"