Tibor Szász (9 June 1948 - 22 April 2025) was a Hungarian pianist and author of essays on musicological questions and performance practice related to

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Since 1993, Szász was Professor of Piano at the University of Music in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, Germany.

Education

Tibor Szász was born in 1948 of ethnic Hungarian parents in the city of

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, a

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

n university town also known as Kolozsvár (Hungarian) and Klausenburg (German). His piano studies began at the age of four. His official concerto debut came at age 16 with conductor Antonin Ciolan. In 1967, Szász was named Laureate of the

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanians, Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher and statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. Biography En ...

International Piano Competition held in Bucharest and this honor was followed by many performances with orchestras in Romania. His West German debut came in 1968. After further studies in the United States with

Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (July 23, 1928 – August 2, 2020) was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most re ...

, Theodore Lettvin,

Russell Sherman Russell Sherman (March 25, 1930 – September 30, 2023) was an American classical pianist, educator and author. He performed internationally, known especially for playing the music of Beethoven and Liszt. Driven by a "lifelong battle to recons ...

, Miklós Schwalb and Charles Fisher, Tibor Szász distinguished himself as first prize winner of three international piano competitions, including William Kapell International Piano Competition in 1974 (at the time, the competition bore the official name University of Maryland International Piano Competition).

Artistic career

Szász has now performed in over one thousand solo, concerto, and chamber music concerts in Romania, Germany, Canada, France, England, Spain, Hungary, Taiwan and the United States of America. Solo recitals in

Carnegie Recital Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by its n ...

and works for piano and orchestra in Boston Symphony Hall, and with the Sinfonia Orchestra of Chicago, led to acclaimed performances of the last three sonatas of

, first at the "La Gesse Foundation" in France, and then at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He was featured in two festivals where he performed twenty major works by

, the last three piano sonatas, the complete violin and cello sonatas, and the first and last piano trio. His chamber music collaborations have included tours with the Takács String Quartet. All his recordings have been issued in the United States and include works by

, Chopin,

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

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 Bartók. Tibor Szász holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Michigan is one of th ...

and was Professor of Piano at

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

, the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a Private university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

and

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. Since 1993 Szász has been Professor of Piano at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg (University of Music Freiburg, Germany).

Musicology and essays on performance practice

Tibor Szász has written extensively about the music of

and

. His publications include the internationally acclaimed article ''Liszt's Symbols for the Divine and Diabolical: Their Revelation of a Program in the B minor Sonata'' (''Journal of the American Liszt Society'', June 1984). There are also two articles on Beethoven's piano concertos (the second included in the book ''Performing Beethoven'' published in ''Cambridge Studies in Performance Practice'' (No.4), by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1994). His most recent contribution published by ''Early Keyboard Journal'' centered on a hitherto overlooked authentic source for the Mozart Piano Concerto in C major K. 246 now at the

Bibliothèque Nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

.BnF Catalogue général
Retrieved 17 July 2017.

References

External links

Homepage

Hochschule für Musik
University of Music Freiburg website
Musicalta
Retrieved from the website Musicalta on July 8, 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Szasz, Tibor Hungarian male classical pianists Romanian classical pianists Romanian expatriates in the United States Duke University faculty University of Michigan faculty People from Cluj County 1948 births Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni 21st-century Hungarian classical pianists 21st-century Hungarian male musicians Bowling Green State University faculty