Gísli Magnússon (5 February 1929 – 28 May 2001) was an Icelandic pianist. His career spanned more than half a century.

Biography

Magnússon was born on 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 Eskifjör� ...

, Iceland. He started piano lessons in 1939, at the age of ten. He studied in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and Rome.Gísli Magnússon. 2001. Mbl.is – Obituaries. http://www.mbl.is/greinasafn/grein/610061/. Retrieved 2 December 2017. 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. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa (concert hall), Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution u ...

under conductor

Olav Kielland Olav Løchen Kielland (16 August 1901 – 5 August 1985) was a Norwegian composer and conductor. Early life and education Olav Løchen Kielland was born in Trondheim, the son of Gabriel Kielland (1871–1960) and Margit Løchen (1875–1951). ...

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 (music), 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 co ...

."Gísli Magnússon píanó." 2004. CD:Bad Taste Records (Smekkleysa). Text: Bjarki Sveinbjörnsson, Magnús Gíslason. 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 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 Gunnar Kvaran at

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

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, 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 div ...

.Sigurjón Örn Sigurjónsson. 2004. Skýjaborgir. http://skyjaborgir.blogspot.is/2004/11/gsli-magnsson-pan.html He died on 28 May 2001 in Reykjavík.

References

External links

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