Karl (Rudolf) Engel (

Birsfelden Birsfelden (Swiss German: ''Birsfälde'') is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Arlesheim (district), Arlesheim in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. History Birsfelden is first menti ...

, 1 June 1923 - Chernex, 2 September 2006) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

pianist. In 1952 Engel was awarded the second prize at the

Queen Elisabeth competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition ( nl, Koningin Elisabethwedstrijd, french: Concours musical international Reine Élisabeth) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in Brussels. The competition is named after Queen ...

. Throughout his concert career, he cultivated the art song repertory and worked extensively on works of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

and

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

. He also held a professorship at Musikhochschule Hannover for three decades. Engel was a student of

Paul Baumgartner Paul Baumgartner (21 July 1903 – 19 October 1976) was a Swiss pianist. Born in Altstätten, Switzerland, he studied piano and composition with Walter Braunfels in the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and with Eduard Erdmann in Köln ...

(1903–1976) at the Basel Conservatory from 1942 to 1945. After World War II, he studied with

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...

at the

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Engl ...

in 1947-1948. Karl Engel toured internationally as a soloist with orchestras, a recitalist and a chamber music performer. He became particularly known for his complete cycles of Mozart piano concertos 1974-1976,

Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg The Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg is an Austrian orchestra, based in the town and state of Salzburg. The orchestra gives concerts in several Salzburg venues, including the ''Großes Festspielhaus'', the Great Hall of the Stiftung Mozarteum. I ...

Leopold Hager Leopold Hager (born 6 October 1935, Salzburg) is an Austrian conductor known for his interpretations of works by the Viennese Classics (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert). Hager studied piano, organ, harpsichord, conducting, and composition ...

(Till Engel & L. Hager playing the two double concertos KV 242 & 365) and sonatas, and the

Beethoven Piano Sonatas Ludwig van Beethoven wrote 32 mature piano sonatas between 1795 and 1822. (He also wrote 3 juvenile sonatas at the age of 13 and one unfinished sonata, WoO. 51.) Although originally not intended to be a meaningful whole, as a set they comprise one ...

. His performances of complete piano works of Robert Schumann during the 1970s were highly esteemed. He also distinguished himself as an accompanist, often appearing in Lieder recitals with

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, ...

Hermann Prey Hermann Prey ( Berlin, 11 July 1929 – Krailling, 22 July 1998) was a German lyric baritone, who was equally at home in the Lied, operatic and concert repertoires. His American debut was in November 1952, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and ...

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

and

Brigitte Fassbaender Brigitte Fassbaender (; born 3 July 1939), is a German mezzo-soprano opera singer and a stage director. From 1999 to 2012 she was intendant (managing director) of the Tyrolean State Theatre in Innsbruck, Austria. She holds the title Kammersänge ...

. Among his chamber music partners were the cellist

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,

, the violinist

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to the v ...

and the

Melos Quartet The Melos Quartet was a much-recorded, Stuttgart-based string quartet active from 1965 until 2005, when its first violin died. It also went by the name Melos Quartett Stuttgart, partly to distinguish itself from the equally prominent chamber group ...

. From 1958 to 1986 Karl Engel was Professor of piano at the

Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions with the right to ...

, Germany. He led famous master-classes in France, Canada and Portugal. From 1989 he led master-classes in his homeland and abroad. His son Till Engel (born 1951), is a pianist, and Professor at Folkwang Hochschule Essen, Germany. Karl Engel recorded the complete piano music of Mozart and of Robert Schumann and made numerous recordings with the singers Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hermann Prey, Brigitte Fassbaender, Peter Schreier et al. He also recorded a remarkable account of Stravinsky's Piano Concerto.

References

Swiss classical pianists 1923 births 2006 deaths Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century classical pianists {{classical-pianist-stub