Dénes Zsigmondy (9 April 1922 – 15 February 2014) was a Hungarian classical violinist and music educator. He was born Dénes Liedemann in Budapest, but changed his name to Zsigmondy, his paternal grandmother's surname, as it was more Hungarian than German. In 1944, whilst attending the Summer Academy in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

, he was informed by his parents that he had been drafted into the Hungarian military—to avoid the draft he did not return to Hungary and hid out with a German family at

Lake Starnberg Lake Starnberg, or ''Starnberger See'' ) — called Lake Würm, or ''Würmsee'' , until 1962 — is Germany's second-largest body of fresh water, having great depth, and fifth-largest lake by area. It and its surroundings lie in three different Ba ...

. After World War II, Zsigmondy was rejected by several orchestras before joining the

Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (german: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestr ...

when he impressed the conductor with his performance of

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

' ''

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

''.Hegedűs, Claudia
Zsigmondy Dénes: "A zene alapeleme az életnek"
''Fidelio'', 8 April 2012. Following this appointment, Zsigmondy would perform as a soloist with the

Berliner Symphoniker The Berliner Symphoniker (''Berlin Symphony Orchestra'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. History The orchestra began its performing activity on 1 September 1967 as ''Symphonisches Orchester Berlin'', under the auspices of t ...

and the

Vienna Symphony The Vienna Symphony (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, german: Wiener Symphoniker) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna. Its primary concert venue is the Konzerthaus, Vienna, Vienna Konzerthaus. In Vienna, the orchestra also performs at the Musikv ...

; the philharmonic orchestras of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

; and the radio orchestras of the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

in Sydney and Melbourne, and in

; as well as the

Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra (Stuttgarter Kammerorchester) is a German chamber orchestra based in Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar ...

and the

Camerata Salzburg The Camerata Salzburg is an Austrian chamber orchestra based in Salzburg, Austria. The Camerata's principal concert venue is the Mozarteum University. History Bernhard Paumgartner founded the ensemble in 1952 as the ''Camerata Academica des Moz ...

.''World Who's Who'', Europa Publications, 2014. From 1971, he was a professor (later emeritus professor) of music at the

University of Washington at Seattle The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle ...

, a visiting professor at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

, and conducted masterclasses at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

and other institutions around the world. He taught at the

Hochschule für Musik Mainz The Hochschule für Musik Mainz (HfMM, Mainz School of Music) is a university of music, part of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. It is the only such institution in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History The institution was ...

in his later years. He was married to the pianist Anneliese Nissen, with whom he gave recitals, from 1947 until her death in 2014. The couple had two daughters. Zsigmondy died, aged 91, at his home in Bavaria, Germany on 15 February 2014.Elhunyt Zsigmondy Dénes
, ''Fidelio'', 16 February 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zsigmondy, Denes 1922 births 2014 deaths Hungarian classical violinists Male classical violinists Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni University of Washington faculty Boston University faculty Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz faculty Hungarian people of German descent Hungarian expatriates in Germany