Géza Anda (; 19 November 192113 June 1976) was a Swiss-
Hungarian 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, ...
. A celebrated interpreter of classical and romantic repertoire, particularly noted for his performances and recordings of
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
, he was also considered to be a tremendous interpreter 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 ...
,
Schumann,
Brahms and
Bartók.
In his heyday he was regarded as an amazing artist, possessed of a beautiful, natural and flawless technique that gave his concerts a unique quality. Most of his recordings were made on the
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
label.
Early years and education
Géza Anda was born in 1921 in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. He studied with
Imre Stefaniai and
Imre Keéri-Szántó, then became a pupil of
Ernst von Dohnányi and
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály (, ; , ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education.
...
at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest.
[''Géza Anda: Troubadour of the Piano''. ]Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
CD set #00289 477 5289. Booklet, p. 9 In 1940 he won the Liszt Prize, and in the next year, he made an international name for himself with his performance of
Brahms's
Piano Concerto No. 2.
[ In 1941, he also made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under Wilhelm Furtwängler, who dubbed him "troubadour of the piano."][ In 1943, he settled in ]Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.
Career
In the mid-1950s, Anda gave masterclasses at the Salzburg Mozarteum, and in 1960 he took the position of director of the Lucerne masterclasses, succeeding Edwin Fischer. His students included Per Enflo, who later became renowned for his work in mathematical analysis
Analysis is the branch of mathematics dealing with continuous functions, limit (mathematics), limits, and related theories, such as Derivative, differentiation, Integral, integration, measure (mathematics), measure, infinite sequences, series ( ...
.
As a performer, Anda was particularly noted for his interpretation of Schumann's and Brahms's piano music. The New Grove Dictionary cites his "charismatic readings of Bartók and Schumann". He was regarded as the principal Bartók interpreter of his generation, even if other pianists since his death have made more obviously exciting recordings of that composer's concertos(according to whom?). Although he played very little Mozart in his early career, he became the first pianist to record the full cycle of Mozart's piano concerti; he recorded them between 1961 and 1969, conducting the orchestra from the keyboard.
His performance of the Andante from Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C on the soundtrack of the 1967 film '' Elvira Madigan'' led to the epithet "Elvira Madigan" often being applied to the concerto. For his recording of Mozart's Piano Concertos No. 17 & No. 21 with the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, he received the Grand Prix du Disque in 1963.
"''From the outset of his career, he was what one might call a philosopher-virtuoso. In his lifelong quest for the perfect balance of head and heart, between intellect and instinct, he explored many facets of music-making''."[ He was honored in 1965 by being named a Chevalier of the ]Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
, and he also became an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in 1970.
During his career he collaborated with other directors, among which are worth highlighting Ferenc Fricsay
Ferenc Fricsay (; 9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen.
Biography
Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ern ...
where he joined the Berlin Radio Symphony, Claudio Abbado, Ernest Ansermet, Sir John Barbirolli, Karl Böhm, Ernest Bour, Eugen Jochum
Eugen Jochum (; 1 November 1902 – 26 March 1987) was a German conducting, conductor, best known for his interpretations of the music of Anton Bruckner, Carl Orff, and Johannes Brahms, among others.
Biography
Jochum was born to a Roman Catholic ...
, Herbert von Karajan, Joseph Keilberth, István Kertész, Otto Klemperer, Rafael Kubelík, Ferdinand Leitner, Erich Leinsdorf, Fritz Reiner, Hans Rosbaud, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Carl Schuricht, Sir Georg Solti and George Szell.
Personal life
Initially, Anda married Swiss-born Helene Winterstein-Bosshard (1906-?), who was his manager. In 1964, he married Hortense Bührle, who was the youngest child of German-born industrialist and majority owner of Oerlikon-Bührle
''Oerlikon-Bührle'' (full name ''Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon, Bührle & Co.'', initially ''Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon'') was a Switzerland, Swiss arms industry, armaments company based in Oerlikon (Zürich) from 1906 to 1999.Jürg Fink ...
Emil Bührle. They have one son;
* Gratian Dietrich Bela Anda known as Gratian Anda (born 1969)
He died on 13 June 1976 in Zurich, Switzerland. His cause of death was esophageal cancer.Caskets on Parade
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See also
* Concours Géza Anda
* Great Pianists of the 20th Century – Géza Anda
Notes
References
*
* Wolfgang Rathert: ''Géza Anda. Pianist. Ein Panorama zum 100. Geburtstag / A Panorama on his 100th Birthday'', herausgegeben von der / published by Géza Anda Foundation erman-Englisch Hofheim, Wolke 2021 (ISBN 978-3-95593-104-9).
External links
*
Official Homepage of Concours Géza Anda, Zürich
Discography
an
bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anda, Geza
1921 births
1976 deaths
Hungarian male conductors (music)
Hungarian classical pianists
Swiss male classical pianists
Deutsche Grammophon artists
Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni
Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music
Deaths from cancer in Switzerland
Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Pupils of Ernő Dohnányi
Jewish classical pianists
20th-century Swiss conductors (music)
20th-century Swiss classical pianists
20th-century Swiss composers
Deaths from esophageal cancer
20th-century Hungarian male musicians
Hungarian emigrants to Switzerland