Vilém Kurz (23 December 1872 – 25 May 1945) was 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 ...

pianist and piano teacher.

Career

Kurz was born in Německý Brod,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

in 23 December 1873. He became a professor at the State Conservatory in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...

. His students included his daughter

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 ...

Rudolf Firkušný Rudolf Firkušný (; 11 February 191219 July 1994) was a Moravians, Moravian-born, Moravian-American classical pianist. Life Born in the Moravian town of Napajedla, Firkušný started his musical studies with the composers Leoš Janáček an ...

Eduard Steuermann Eduard Steuermann (June 18, 1892, Sambor, Austria-Hungary – November 11, 1964, New York City) was an Austrian-born American pianist and composer. Steuermann studied piano with Vilém Kurz at the Lemberg Conservatory and Ferruccio Busoni in ...

Artur Rodziński Artur Rodziński (2 January 1892 – 27 November 1958) was a Polish and American conductor of orchestral music and opera. He began his career after World War I in Poland, where he was discovered by Leopold Stokowski, who invited him to be his ass ...

Břetislav Bakala Břetislav Bakala (February 12, 1897 in Fryšták – April 1, 1958 in Brno) was a Czech conductor, pianist, and composer. His career was centred on Brno and he was particularly associated with the music of Leoš Janáček. Life and career Ba ...

Pavel Štěpán Pavel Štěpán (28 May 1925 – 30 September 1998) was a Czechs, Czech pianist whose domain was the interpretation of piano works by Josef Suk (composer), Josef Suk, Vitezslav Novak and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's piano concertos. He has always been ...

, Stanislav Heller, František Maxián, Gideon Klein,

Rafael Schächter Rafael Schächter (born 25 May 1905, died on the death march during the evacuation of Auschwitz in 1945), was a Czechoslovak composer, pianist and conductor of Jewish origin, organizer of cultural life in Terezín concentration camp. Life H ...

Stefania Turkewich Stefania Turkewich-Lukianovych (25 April 18988 April 1977), also spelled Turkevycz and Turkevich, was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, and musicologist. She is recognized as Ukraine's first woman composer. In the USSR , her works were banned by ...

Ilja Hurník Ilja Hurník (25 November 1922 – 7 September 2013) was a Czech Republic, Czech composer and essayist. Biography Hurnik was born in Poruba (Ostrava), Poruba, now part of Ostrava. He entered the Prague Conservatory, then went on to the Aca ...

, and Pavel Šivic. His teaching methods were largely based on those of

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky; ; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915) was a Polish pianist, professor, and composer active in Austria-Hungary. He was born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land ...

and his pupils he met during the time he taught in

. Later they were further developed by his daughter, Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová. He died in Prague in 25 May 1945.

Antonín Dvořák's Piano Concerto in G minor

Kurz is known for his reworking of the solo part of

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

's Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 33, which was originally composed in 1876. For more than a decade after the concerto's first performance, it suffered from neglect and critical disdain. In his 20s, Kurz undertook a revision of the solo part, and it is this version that he frequently performed. Since that time, the original and the Kurz versions have been printed together in Otakar Šourek's critical edition of the score, one beneath the other, so that the soloist can choose which version to perform. The Kurz version has become a part of the standard piano repertoire. Dvořák's original orchestral material is not affected by the soloist's choice. In 1919, Ilona Kurzová played the first performance of the Kurz version of the concerto, conducted by

Václav Talich Václav Talich (; 28 May 1883, Kroměříž – 16 March 1961, Beroun) was a Czech conductor, violinist and later a musical pedagogue. He is remembered today as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, the object of countless reissue ...

. This revision was later adopted and recorded by

, who in the 1950s also introduced a few cuts to the first and third movements. In the 1970s he abandoned all revisions in favour of the original version by Dvořák.

Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. Th ...

, the Czech recording company, issued a compact disc on which

Ivan Moravec Ivan Moravec (9 November 1930 – 27 July 2015) was a Czech concert pianist whose performing and recording career spanned nearly half a century. Media and critics worldwide often called Moravec "a poet of the piano" or "pianist supreme". He is cons ...

plays the Kurz version, with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by

Jiří Bělohlávek Jiří Bělohlávek, (; 24 February 1946 – 31 May 2017) was a Czech conductor. He was a leading interpreter of Czech classical music, and became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, a role he would serve on two occasio ...

, while

Radoslav Kvapil Radoslav Kvapil (born 15 March 1934 in Brno) is a Czech pianist. At the end of the 20th century, he devoted his concert programmes to works by Frédéric Chopin, particularly in France, in the Chopin International Piano Festival in Nohant. On 21 ...

plays the composer's original score, with the

Brno Philharmonic Orchestra The Brno Philharmonic (Czech: ''Filharmonie Brno'') is a Czech orchestra based in Brno, the Czech Republic. Its principal concert venue in Brno is the ''Besední dům''. The orchestra also performs regularly in the Janáček Opera House in Brno. ...

under

František Jílek František Jílek (22 May 1913 – 16 September 1993) was a Czech conductor, known especially for his interpretation of Leoš Janáček's works. Life Jílek began studying piano and composition as a pupil of Jaroslav Kvapil, and later studied ...

Career

Antonín Dvořák's Piano Concerto in G minor

Notes

References

Further reading