Günter Ludwig (28 August 1930 – 11 January 2022) was a German pianist.

Life and career

Born in Großkrotzenburg, Ludwig attended the Musisches Gymnasium Frankfurt. He then studied piano with August Leopolder and

Marguerite Long Marguerite Marie-Charlotte Long (13 November 1874 – 13 February 1966) was a French pianist, pedagogue, lecturer, and an ambassador of French music. Life Early life: 1874–1900 Marguerite Long was born to Pierre Long and Anne Marie Antoin ...

and conducting with Kurt Thomas. He achieved his first successes by participating in international competitions, winning third prizes at the

Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition The Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition is a music competition for young pianists that takes place in Bolzano, Italy. It was founded in 1949 by Cesare Nordio in memory of the pianist and composer Ferruccio Busoni. History The firs ...

in 1954 and 1955. During his tours through Europe, America and Asia, he played in orchestral concerts with conductors such as István Kertész,

Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt, and London, and as a long-servi ...

Horst Stein Horst Walter Stein (2 May 1928 – 27 July 2008) was a German conductor. Biography Stein was born in Elberfeld, Germany; his father was a mechanic. At school in Frankfurt, he studied piano, oboe, and singing. Later, he continued studies ...

and

Günter Wand Günter Wand (7 January 1912, in Elberfeld, Germany – 14 February 2002, in Ulmiz near Bern, Switzerland) was a German orchestra conductor and composer. Wand studied in Wuppertal, Allenstein and Detmold. At the Cologne Conservatory, he was a ...

and in

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 ...

formations with performers such as

Arthur Grumiaux Baron Arthur Grumiaux (; 21 March 1921 – 16 October 1986) was a Belgian violinist, considered by some to have been "one of the few truly great violin virtuosi of the twentieth century". He has been noted for having a "consistently beautiful t ...

Nathan Milstein Nathan Mironovich Milstein ( – December 21, 1992) was a Russian and American virtuoso violinist. Widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for wo ...

János Starker János Starker (; ; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is conside ...

Henryk Szeryng Henryk Bolesław Szeryng (usually pronounced ''HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g'') (22 September 19183 March 1988) was a Polish- Mexican violinist. Early years He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname ...

and the

Amadeus Quartet The Amadeus Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1947 and disbanded in 1987, having retained its founding members throughout its history. Noted for its smooth, sophisticated style, its seamless ensemble playing, and its sensitive interpretat ...

. Ludwig was professor of piano at the

Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln The Cologne University of Music () is a public university of music and dance located in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Established in 1850 as the Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln, it is one of the largest music academies in Europe, w ...

and visiting professor at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. His master students include Ulrich Windfuhr, Udo Schneberger, Alfredo Perl, Sung-Hee Kim-Wüst, Friedrich Höricke, Raymund Havenith,

Ulrich Leyendecker Ulrich Leyendecker (29 January 1946 — 29 November 2018) was a German composer of classical music. His output consisted mainly of symphonies, concertos, chamber and instrumental music. Life Leyendecker studied composition with Ingo Schmitt (1 ...

, Gereon Krahforst, Andreas Rothkopf, Florian Wiek, Johannes Cernota and Franz-Josef Birk. Ludwig was a freelancer for Schott-Verlag and Wiener Urtext Edition and a member of several juries of international competitions such as Bolzano and Genève. Ludwig was married to the Korean singer Mi-Sun Choi-Ludwig and father of two sons. He performed with his wife as a Lied

accompanist Accompaniment is the part (music), musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmony (music), harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in di ...

and with his sons as "Trio Ludwig". Ludwig died on 11 January 2022, at the age of 91.

Cologne Piano Trio

Together with Walter Schreiber (violin) and Joanna Sachryn (cello), Ludwig formed the "Kölner Klaviertrio" in the late 1980s, founded by Walter Schreiber in 1983. The ensemble has made guest appearances in several European countries, Brazil, Japan and Korea and has played at international music festivals such as the

Festival van Vlaanderen Festival of Flanders () is an annual music event at different locations in Flanders. It started initially as a "Summer Festival", but now its activities are spread from January to May, with a peak in late summer and early autumn. History The Festi ...

, the

Carinthischer Sommer The Carinthian Summer is a music and cultural festival in the Austrian province of Carinthia. It was founded in 1969 in Ossiach

and the

Berliner Festspiele The Berliner Festspiele (German language, German for Berlin Festivals) in Berlin organise and stage a large number of independent festivals as well as exhibitions and individual events in the fields of music, theatre, performance, dance, literat ...

. Contemporary composers such as Dieter Salbert and Violeta Dinescu have dedicated works to the Cologne Piano Trio, and since 2003, there has been a collaboration with the Polish composer and pianist

Krzysztof Meyer Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist, and music scholar, formerly dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Polish C ...

Recordings

Ludwig recorded piano music by

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 ...

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 ...

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

and

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, among others. Among them are all the piano trios by Mozart and Beethoven and the duo sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms and Busoni. With the violinist

Alois Kottmann Alois Kottmann (20 June 1929 – 4 December 2021) was a German violinist, music pedagogue, university professor and patron. He was based in Frankfurt, where he founded several ensembles, and taught at both the Hoch Conservatory and the Musikhoc ...

, he recorded violin sonatas by

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

and Robert Schumann. Together with the former 1st violinist of the Amadeus Quartet,

Norbert Brainin Norbert Brainin, OBE (12 March 1923 in Vienna – 10 April 2005 in London) was the first violinist of the Amadeus Quartet, one of the world's most highly regarded string quartets. Because of Brainin's Jewish origin, he was driven out of Vienna ...

, he recorded Beethoven's complete violin sonatas.. * Johannes Brahms: ''Piano Quartet in G minor op. 25.'' With the Slovenian String Trio. Colosseum, Nuremberg 1985. * Max Reger: ''Sonata in D major op. 3 for violin and piano.'' With Alois Kottmann, violin. Cappella, Wiesbaden 1986. * Robert Schumann: ''Sonata in A minor op. 105.'' With Alois Kottmann, violin. Cappella, Wiesbaden 1988. * Robert Schumann: ''Sonata in D minor op. 121.'' With Alois Kottmann, violin. Cappella, Wiesbaden 1988. * Franz Schubert: ''Sonata in C major. D 840.'' Arranged by Gunter Elsholz. Cappella, Wiesbaden 1993. * Johannes Brahms: ''Sonata No. 2 in A major op. 100.'' With Alois Kottmann, violin. Cappella, Wiesbaden 1993. * Robert Schumann: ''Kreisleriana op. 16.'' Cappella, Wiesbaden 1997. * Johannes Brahms: ''The Sonatas for Violin and Piano.'' With Alois Kottmann, violin. Cappella, Wiesbaden 1998. * Ludwig van Beethoven: ''Complete Violin Sonatas.'' 3 CDs. With Norbert Brainin, violin. Preiser, Vienna 2007. * Robert Schumann: ''Sonata in D minor op. 121''; ''Sonata in A minor op. 105''; Clara Schumann: ''Three Romances op. 22.'' Performers: Collegium Instrumentale Alois Kottmann. Melisma 7101, Oestrich-Winkel. * Johannes Brahms: ''Sonata No. 1 in G major, op. 78''; ''Sonata No. 2 in A major, op. 100''; ''Sonata No. 3 in D minor, op. 108.'' Performers: Collegium Instrumentale Alois Kottmann. Melisma 7102, Oestrich-Winkel. *

César Franck César Auguste Jean Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in present-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of h ...

: ''Sonata in A major''; Max Reger: ''Sonata No. 2 in D major op. 3.'' Performers: Collegium Instrumentale Alois Kottmann. Melisma 7018, Oestrich-Winkel. * Ludwig van Beethoven: ''Piano Quartet No. 1 in E flat major WoO 36''; ''Piano Quartet No. 2 in D major WoO 36''; ''Piano Quartet No. 3 in C major WoO 36.'' Performers: Mannheim Piano Quartet. ZYX Classic, Merenberg.

References

External links

*
Website des Kölner Klaviertrios
with Günter Ludwig * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ludwig, Gunter 1930 births 2022 deaths German classical pianists Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln People from Main-Kinzig-Kreis