Agi Jambor (February 4, 1909 – February 3, 1997) was a Hungarian-born pianist.

Biography

Jambor was born in 1909 in Budapest, Hungary, the half-Jewish daughter of a wealthy businessman and a prominent piano teacher. A piano prodigy, she was playing Mozart before she could read and at age 12 made her debut with a symphony orchestra. From 1926 to 1931, Jambor studied piano with

Edwin Fischer Edwin Fischer (6 October 1886 – 24 January 1960) was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the great interpreters of J.S. Bach and Mozart in the twentieth century. Biography Fischer was born in Basel and studied ...

at the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

University of the Arts. In the early 1930s, at the height of her popularity, she fled to Paris and into exile, preferring playing practice piano in a dance studio to performing on the concert stage. In 1933, Jambor married Imre Patai, a physicist and pianist. In 1937 she won Fifth Prize at the

III International Chopin Piano Competition The III International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, III Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 21 February to 13 March 1937 in Warsaw. It was the last competition before the outbreak of World War II, and the ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. Trapped with her husband when the Nazis overran Holland, and unable to escape to the United States, she later returned to Hungary, which was still neutral. She had a baby, a son who died within two weeks. A picture of the infant would remain on her bedside table the rest of her life. The Nazis invaded in 1944 and Jambor participated in the Resistance, often dressed as a prostitute in seductive clothes and heavy makeup, calling herself Maryushka. She refused to return or perform in Germany again. She and her husband came to the United States in 1947. Her husband died two years later, his health destroyed by the war. Between 1955 and 1957, Jambor recorded five albums for Capitol Records in New York City, New York. After leaving Baltimore for Philadelphia in 1957, she began performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra, where she became a favorite soloist of

Eugene Ormandy Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with ...

and was acclaimed by conductor

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...

. She received rave reviews and made 12 recordings for Capitol Records. She also became professor of

classical piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...

, which named her professor emeritus in 1974. She was married to actor Claude Rains from 1959 to 1960."Newlyweds Pose at Home"
/ref> Jambor died of cancer at Gilchrist Center of Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Towson, Maryland on February 3, 1997, one day before her 88th birthday.

References

External links

Fryderyk Chopin Information Centre - Agi Jambor

Agi Jambor: A Nearly Forgotten Pianist
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jambor, Agi 1909 births 1997 deaths Hungarian emigrants to the United States Hungarian classical pianists Hungarian musicians Jewish American classical composers American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Women classical pianists Berlin University of the Arts alumni Bryn Mawr College faculty Prize-winners of the International Chopin Piano Competition 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century composers 20th-century women pianists