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Tamás Vásáry (; born 11 August 1933) is a Hungarian concert pianist and conductor.


Biography and career

Vásáry was born in
Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...
,
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
, and made his stage debut at the age of 8, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in D major, K.107 in the city of his birth, where he gave a solo recital the following year. He then began to concertize regularly as a child prodigy. At this time he was introduced to
Ernő Dohnányi Ernő or Erno is a Finnish and Hungarian masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ernő Balogh (1897-1989), Hungarian pianist, composer, editor, and educator * Ernő Bánk (1883-1962), Hungarian painter and teacher * Ernő B ...
, a leading figure of musical life in Hungary, who made a unique exception by offering to accept the gifted youth as a pupil in spite of his age. Vásáry studied only a short time under his tutelage, however, as Dohnányi soon left Hungary. He also studied with József Gát and Lajos Hernádi at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, and was later an assistant there to
Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music edu ...
. Aged 14, he won first prize in the Franz Liszt competition at the Academy of Music in Budapest, in 1947. He received an honorable mention at the
V International Chopin Piano Competition The V International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, V Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 21 February to 20 March 1955 in Warsaw. The competition was won by Adam Harasiewicz of Poland. The competition was he ...
in 1955. He left Hungary in 1956, and settled in Switzerland. He made his débuts in the major cities of the West in 1960-61. He has subsequently resided in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. He made many recordings for
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 ...
, particularly of the Romantic repertoire, especially Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and Sergei Rachmaninoff. As a conductor, Vásáry served as joint artistic director of the Northern Sinfonia from 1979 to 1982, sharing the post with
Iván Fischer Iván Fischer (born 20 January 1951) is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Born in Budapest into a musical family of Jewish heritage, Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest. His older brother, Ádám Fisc ...
. With the Northern Sinfonia Vásáry recorded the Chopin piano concertos, directing from the keyboard.Griffiths, Bill, ''Northern Sinfonia''. Northumbria University Press, pp. 19-20 () Vásáry was later Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, from 1989-97. Between 1993 and 2004 he was the Principal Conductor of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has guest conducted many of the principal British orchestras as well as appearing regularly in the United States and elsewhere as pianist and conductor.


Recordings

Vásáry has recorded under six different labels:
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. ...
,
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 ...
, Chandos Records, Academy Sound and Vision, Collins Classic and
Hungaroton Hungaroton is the oldest record and music publisher company in Hungary. Hungaroton was founded in 1951, when its only competitors in the Hungarian music market were record labels like Melodiya, Supraphon and from other socialist countries. Prev ...
. He has recorded over 20 albums of the music of Liszt, Chopin, Brahms, Debussy, Rachmaninoff and Mozart with Deutsche Grammophon. In 1991, his recording of works by Liszt released by the Academy of Sound and Vision won the Grand Prize in Hungary. His recording of Dohnányi's violin concerto released by Hungaroton won the Midem Prize.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasary, Tamas 1933 births Living people Hungarian classical pianists Jewish classical pianists Male classical pianists Hungarian conductors (music) Hungarian male musicians Male conductors (music) Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition prize-winners Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music People from Debrecen Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition 21st-century conductors (music)