Zdeněk Hnát (born 25 October 1935) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

, known especially for his interpretations of Czech music and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

. Hnat was born in

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. He studied piano with

Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová (19 November 1899 in Lviv – 25 September 1975 in Prague) was a Czechoslovak concert pianist and piano teacher, a professor at the Prague Academy of Arts. Her students included Ivan Moravec. Ilona Štěpánová-Ku ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, and Heinrich Neuhaus (the latter at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

). He won numerous prizes, including First Prize at the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

Competition in 1957. He has made many broadcast and LP recordings, most of which have not yet been reissued on CD. The most celebrated records were those of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Hammerclavier Sonata, music by Prokofiev, Scriabin, works by Czech composers and chamber works. He appeared on stage in many important venues all around the world. Throughout his whole artistic career, he both performed and taught. He first taught at the Prague Conservatory and later at the Janáček Academy of Music, for a long time also as a headmaster of the Piano Department. He also appeared as a member of faculty at the "International Kubalek Piano Courses". In 2006 he announced his retirement from the pedagogical life for health reasons, but continues performing giving recitals in

and other cities of his homeland.

External links

* Biographies in Czech

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hnat, Zdenek 1935 births Living people Musicians from Liberec Academic staff of the Prague Conservatory 21st-century Czech pianists Moscow Conservatory alumni