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Ervin Nyiregyházi (January 19, 1903,
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 ...
April 8, 1987,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
) was a Hungarian-American pianist and composer. After several years on the concert stage in the 1920s, he descended into relative obscurity before briefly reemerging in the 1970s. His highly distinctive playing style, which has been seen by some as linked to the kind of Romantic pianism associated with
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
, divided critical opinion.


Childhood and early career

From ages six to twelve, Nyiregyházi was observed by the psychologist
Géza Révész Géza Révész (31 August 1902 – 22 January 1977) was a Hungarian military officer and politician, who served as Minister of Defence between 1957 and 1960. During the Hungarian Soviet Republic and the Second World War he fought in the Red A ...
and was the subject of an article and a book, published in 1911 and 1916, respectively. Nyiregyházi's father, Ignácz, was a singer in the Royal Opera Chorus in Budapest; he was also very encouraging and caring but died when Ervin was twelve. Before Ignácz's death, he reported several extraordinary things about his son: that Ervin had tried to sing before he was one year old; reproduced tunes correctly before he was two; began to compose at the age of two; played almost every song he heard correctly on a mouth-organ by the time he reached age three; and could identify any note or chord that was played for him by the age of seven.Kevin Bazzana, ''Lost Genius: The Story of a Forgotten Musical Maverick'' (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart; New York: Carroll & Graf; 2007): 20. (McClelland & Stewart, cloth) 0771011008 (McClelland & Stewart, pbk) (Carrol & Graf); (Da Capo Press, pbk). He was known for his musicality just as much as his technique. On tests of general intelligence, Ervin scored a few years above average, meaning he was prodigy, not a savant. His mother, Mária, was a stage mother who tried to dissuade him from studying opera and symphonic music and pushed her son to study the standard piano repertoire so he could concertize and make money for their family. (In later years, Ervin claimed that his mother sexually molested him.) Ervin eventually broke with his mother, and later expressed pleasure that she had died in a Nazi
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...
. Nyiregyházi studied with
Ernő Dohnányi Ernő or Erno is a Finnish and Hungarian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ernő Balogh (1897-1989), Hungarian pianist, composer, editor, and educator * Ernő Bánk (1883-1962), Hungarian painter and teacher * Ernő B ...
and Frederic Lamond. At age 15, he performed Liszt's Piano Concerto in A major with the Berlin Philharmonic under
Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of B ...
. His
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built b ...
debut in 1920 was controversial: Richard Aldrich of the ''New York Times'' wrote of Nyiregyházi's "brilliant technical equipment, great strength of arm and fingers, remarkable dexterity, a fine feeling for piano tone" but criticized his "often erratic and misleading" conceptions of "some of the most familiar compositions for the piano". H. T. Finck of the ''Evening Post'' praised Nyiregyházi's "originality" but criticized his "arbitrary disregard of the obvious intentions of great composers."
Olin Downes Edwin Olin Downes, better known as Olin Downes (January 27, 1886 – August 22, 1955), was an American music critic, known as "Sibelius's Apostle" for his championship of the music of Jean Sibelius. As critic of ''The New York Times'', he e ...
, writing in the Boston Post, described Nyiregyhazi as a "phenomenal performer" with "the white heat of sincerity, conviction and faith." In a 1935 letter to
Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...
,
Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
called Nyiregyházi:
a pianist who appears to be something really quite extraordinary. I had to overcome great resistance in order to go at all, for the description I'd heard from Dr. Hoffmann and from Maurice Zam had made me very skeptical. But I must say that I have never heard such a pianist before...First, he does not play at all in the style you and I strive for. And just as I did not judge him on that basis, I imagine that when you hear him, you too will be compelled to ignore all matters of principle, and probably will end up doing just as I did. For your principles would not be the proper standard to apply. What he plays is expression in the older sense of the word, nothing else; but such power of expression I have never heard before. You will disagree with his tempi as much as I did. You will also note that he often seems to give primacy to sharp contrasts at the expense of form, the latter appearing to get lost. I say appearing to; for then, in its own way, his music surprisingly regains its form, makes sense, establishes its own boundaries. The sound he brings out of the piano is unheard of, or at least I have never heard anything like it. He himself seems not to know how he produces these novel and quite incredible sounds – although he appears to be a man of intelligence and not just some flaccid dreamer. And such fullness of tone, achieved without ever becoming rough, I have never before encountered. For me, and probably for you too, it's really too much fullness, but as a whole it displays incredible novelty and persuasiveness. And above all he's only c. 33 yearsold, so he's still got several stages of development before him, from which one may expect great things, given his point of departure... it is amazing what he plays and how he plays it. One never senses that it is difficult, that it is technique – no, it is simply a power of the will, capable of soaring over all imaginable difficulties in the realization of an idea. – You see, I'm waxing almost poetic.


Descent into obscurity and reemergence

In 1925, Nyiregyházi sued his concert manager, R. E. Johnston, alleging that accompanying singers and instrumentalists were treating him as an inferior artist. He lost the suit, and thereafter had difficulty finding concert work. In addition, Nyiregyházi, fearing comparison with other pianists, was reluctant to play standard repertoire, preferring his own transcriptions of orchestral and operatic works. By the time of Schoenberg's letter, Nyiregyházi's career seemed to be effectively over. Nyiregyházi was married ten times. His first wife allegedly attacked him with a knife, leading to a messy publicized divorce. Though born into comfortable circumstances (his mother insisted that the servants tie his shoes and feed him by hand so as to relieve him of mundane concerns), he nonetheless spent the better part of his life in poverty, at times reduced to sleeping in subways. In 1928, Nyiregyházi moved to
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
and worked for a film studio, initially playing piano reductions of film scores, and later as a hand double. His hands are shown playing piano in '' A Song to Remember'' and '' Song of Love'', among others. He became friends with
Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in '' ...
and
Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...
, among others, but his inability to manage his affairs led not only to financial crises but also to unusual career decisions. In the 1930s, he played piano as part of a
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
project. But the most unusual appearance was likely a 1946 recital where he was billed as "Mr. X" and played while wearing a black silk hood. Several listeners were able to identify Nyiregyházi by his distinctive sonority. Although he continued to play occasionally, he did not own a piano for roughly 40 years. Several public appearances in 1972 and 1973 led to studio recordings made in 1974 and 1978 under the auspices of the International Piano Archives and the Ford Foundation. Some of these recordings were released between 1977 and 1979 on albums on the Desmar and Columbia Masterworks labels, which briefly brought Nyiregyházi back into public view. An all-Liszt double album won
Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' is an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review' ...
's 1978 Record of the Year award. Critical reaction to the recordings was sharply divided, with some claiming to hear an authentic 19th-century pianist (
Harold C. Schonberg Harold Charles Schonberg (29 November 1915 – 26 July 2003) was an American music critic and author. He is best known for his contributions in ''The New York Times'', where he was chief music critic from 1960 to 1980. In 1971, he became the f ...
wrote, "some critics wonder if Franz Liszt had been reincarnated"). Others denounced Nyiregyhazi's "incredibly slipshod" technique, "ridiculously amateurish" fortissimo playing, "glacial tempos and total dissociation from contemporary performance styles. But Romantic revivalists were enthralled." In 1978, he was offered concerts at Carnegie Hall, but declined. Recitals in Japan in 1980 and 1982 were his last public appearances. Nyiregyházi was also a prolific composer, writing in a Romantic style reminiscent of Liszt. Events often moved him to compose, and his works have titles such as'' Goetz Versus the Punks, It’s Nice to be Soused, Shotgun Wedding, ''and ''Vanishing Hope''. Only a few of his compositions have been published or performed.Bazzana (2007): 228, 231, 232, 329


Death and burial

Ervin Nyiregyházi died of
colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel m ...
in 1987. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in
Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from 191,719 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth-larges ...
. Only the last of his ten wives survived him.


Recordings

A few of Nyiregyházi's recordings, including some live performances, have been issued on CD on the VAI, Music and Arts, and Sonetto Classics labels.


Discography

* ''Nyiregyhazi Plays Liszt'' (Desmar/ International Piano Archives IPA 111, Telefunken 6.42626, 1977) * ''Nyiregyhazi: All Liszt Program'' (Columbia M2-34598, 1978) * ''Nyiregyhazi: Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Bortkiewicz, Blanchet'' (Columbia M-35125, 1979) * '' Nyiregyhazi: At the Opera'' (VAI/IPA 1003 VAI Audio TT 55.29, without date)


Biographies

* Nyiregyházi was the first child prodigy musician to be seriously studied, and Révész's book made him being among the best-documented prodigies in history. * In 2007,
McClelland and Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was founded ...
of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...
published a biography by Kevin Bazzana, ''Lost Genius''.


References


External links


The International Ervin Nyiregyházi FoundationA website dedicated to Ervin Nyiregyházi
* ttp://www.michaelsayers.com/recordings.html A page at Michael Sayers's website with recordings of Ervin Nyiregyházi compositions
Ervin Nyíregyházi, Notable Alumni
Franz Liszt Academy The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nyiregyhazi, Ervin 1903 births 1987 deaths Musicians from Budapest American male classical composers American classical composers Hungarian classical composers Hungarian male classical composers American classical pianists American male pianists Hungarian classical pianists Male classical pianists Hungarian emigrants to the United States Works Progress Administration workers Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in California Jewish classical pianists 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians