Gísli Magnússon (5 February 1929

Eskifjörður Eskifjörður (in original spelling; ), or Eskifjördur is a town and port in eastern Iceland with a large fishing industry. With a population of 1,043 it is one of the most populous towns in the municipality of Fjarðabyggð. History Eskifjörðu ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

– 28 May 2001 in Reykjavik,

) was an Icelandic pianist whose career spanned more than half a century. Magnússon started piano lessons in 1939, at the age of ten. He studied in Reykjavik, Zürich and Rome. In the first three years he studied with Icelandic pianist Rögnvaldur Sigurjónsson who had himself recently returned from studying in Paris. Magnússon continued to study piano at the Reykjavik College of Music and graduated in 1949. From there he went on to study with Swiss pianist and graduated as a solo pianist in 1953 from Zürich University of the Ar

In 1954 he played his first concert with the

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution under the aus ...

under conductor

Olav Kielland Olav Løchen Kielland (16 August 1901 in Trondheim – 5 August 1985 in Bø, Telemark) was a Norwegian composer and conductor. Early life and education Olav Løchen Kielland was born the son of Gabriel Kielland (1871–1960) and Margit Løchen ...

and received rave reviews. The same year he was awarded a one-year grant from the Italian state and studied in Rome under the supervision of Italian pianist

Carlo Zecchi Carlo Zecchi (8 July 190331 August 1984) was an Italian pianist, music teacher and conductor. Zecchi was born in Rome. A pupil of F. Baiardi for piano and of L. Refice and A. Bustini for composition, he began his career as a concert pianist at o ...

Magnússon was very active in the Icelandic music scene and appeared in countless concerts, both live and on radio and television. He made many recordings, both as a solo pianist and together with other musicians, in particular cellist

Gunnar Kvaran Gunnar Kvaran (born 16 January 1944) is an Icelandic cellist. Life and career Gunnar was born in the town of Seltjarnarnes near Reykjavík, the son of actor Ævar Kvaran and the great-grandson of Einar Hjörleifsson Kvaran. He began studyin ...

and pianist Halldór Haraldsson. During his career he gained considerable international reputation, and in 1977 he was invited to perform a piano concert by composer , at the opening concert of the Bergen Music Festival. In 1979 he played a concert together with

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in New York. Magnússon appeared in eighteen concerts as a solo pianist with the

in the years 1954 to 1989. He also taught piano throughout his career and was the headmaster of Garðabær College of Music from 1985 to 1999. Magnússon was the main external examiner for piano at the Reykjavik College of Music for the majority of his professional life. In 2004 a CD with Magnússon's best known recordings, Gísli Magnússon: Píanó, was released by music label Bad Taste Record Label (Icelandic: Smekkleysa). It includes among others compositions English Suite in D Minor by

J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suite ...

, Humoresques by and Vikivaki by

Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnsson (28 June 1847 – 23 February 1927) was an Icelandic composer best known for composing " Lofsöngur", the national anthem of Iceland. Early life and education Sveinbjörn was born in Seltjarnarnes. He was studying divi ...

.Sigurjón Örn Sigurjónsson. 2004. Skýjaborgir. http://skyjaborgir.blogspot.is/2004/11/gsli-magnsson-pan.html

References

External links

* *
Glatkistan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnusson, Gisli Icelandic pianists 1929 births 2001 deaths 20th-century pianists