Anton II., Durchlauchtig Hochgeborener Fürst Esterházy de Galantha, Erbgraf von Forchtenstein, gefürsteter Graf von Edelstetten, erblicher Obergespan von Ödenburg, such was the full name of the dignified, likeable, always friendly and good-hearted Prince Esterházy, lover and connoisseur of all the Fine Arts.
After a prolonged illness, he passed away with dignity at the age of 89. He dedicated his life to cherishing family traditions and preserving the spirituality of Hungarian cultural heritage, particularly Esterházy Castle in Fertöd. This prince was, in direct line, a descendant of the Esterházy's who were patrons of great brilliant artists such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and others. It was through the music of Haydn that he came to Mechelen for many years to attend numerous concerts organized by the Austrian association Servus and the Haydn Society that emerged from it. With pride, we at Klassiek Centraal can say and write that he was a fan of our magazine, which he enjoyed reading. This Hungarian / Austrian / German aristocratic prince was a polyglot who spoke fluent Dutch. He was fond of Flanders, which he got to know much better as a student in the sixties when he studied philosophy and engineering at the French-speaking section of the then still bilingual Catholic University of Leuven. He experienced the enormous tensions of Leuven Flemish. He enjoyed sitting with Flemish students in Het Kleine Tafeltje Rond, once one of many thriving student cafés in Leuven, now a trendy place for tourists. When I asked him where he had learned such beautiful Dutch, he told me as follows: "In the Kleine Tafeltje Rond when we had pints with those Flemish students. They were much 'nicer' than those Walloons, hahahaaa". Well, so much for that. He became, after the early death of his father, de facto family head at the age of 11, although his uncle held the title until his death. At 19 he ended up in our country. Later he entered the business world and after the fall of the Wall and the communist dictatorships, including Hungary, he devoted himself to the revaluation and restoration of the palace in Fertöd, which had been severely damaged by the aftermath of WWII. The palace where Haydn composed his Farewell Symphony. The Hungarian state, having become owner of the palace after WWII, which had been confiscated at the time, placed an apartment in the palace where the prince had grown up as a child and where he had his father reburied in 2019, at the disposal of the prince and his family to live in. Funny actually, your property that is no longer your property due to the vicissitudes of war and political choices, where you are allowed to live again decades after your expulsion, obediently listening to and under the watchful eye of the authorities. Haydn, it stands to reason. Which composer other than Joseph Haydn cannot be more separated from the princely Esterházy family than anyone else? The Malines Austria enthusiast Alfons Deleus, together with his wife Marie-Jeanne Lambrechts, wanted to celebrate their association's anniversary in grand style. It became something with classical music, not exactly the music both fell in love with, but well, to make a long story short, it became concerts in Mechelen with music by Haydn. And that pleased much more than expected. From this grew the Haydn biennial and later the Haydn Society, which annually organizes in October/November the successful concert series Amazing Haydn. They lose with the death of Prince Anton II Esterházy de Galantha their honorary chairman, but above all their mentor and moral pillar of support. One thing led to another and the organizational talent of Alfons Deleus, who knew that for big celebrations you cannot do without the ambassadors, mayors and ministers of countries like Austria, led him to the unreachable prince. The man and his (later) second wife became real friends. And so we got to know him with Klassiek Centraal as well, and it must be said, he valued our work very much. So he absolutely wanted to be present at a Golden Labels Award Ceremony where he, among others, handed over the Golden Label Career award to ballet dancer Alain Honorez (June 2012). A couple of times I was a guest in the beautiful palace in Fertöd (Hungary) and once even as a guest of honor at a concert in the palace where only people with more capital were present at a fundraising event to rebuild the former opera house of the palace. How those people's eyes widened during the interval: who was that man not dressed according to protocol who sat there, together with the prince, having an apple juice at a little table and speaking an incomprehensible language to them, a language that their prince apparently spoke fluently as well?With Prince Esterházy, his wife, his family, his palace, his staff, his Hungary and Austria, but also Mechelen, the Haydn Society and Klassiek Centraal lose a wonderful human being. He leaves behind countless pleasant, beautiful, warm memories. Farewell. Lebe wohl lieber Fürst und bitte, grüsst Joseph Haydn von uns!
