Anton Kontra (born 29 March 1932 in Tomajmonostora, Hungary; died 8 May 2020 in Malmö, Sweden) was a Hungarian-Danish violinist,

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

and leading soloist in the

Scandinavian countries Scandinavia is a subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also refer to the Scan ...

Career

Born into a

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

family, Anton Kontra began playing the violin at the age of five. His musical talent soon revealed itself, and at the age of ten he began to study music theory at the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Franz Liszt Academy of Music (, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the Liszt Collection, which features several ...

under the tutelage of

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (, ; , ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education. ...

. Kontra went on to study with Ede Zathureczky, winning prizes at the

International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition The International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition () is a music competition in Leipzig, Germany, held by the Bach-Archiv Leipzig. It was founded in 1950 and was held every four years from 1964 to 1996 with five subjects and is now held every two ...

and the

Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition The International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition ( Polish: ''Międzynarodowy Konkurs Skrzypcowy im. Henryka Wieniawskiego'') is a competition for violinists up to age 30 that takes place every five years in Poznań, Poland, in honor of the v ...

. Kontra's early career stalled with the defeat of the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

. He emigrated to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, played for the first time in Gypsy bands, as did many of his compatriots, and won seats with the Copenhagen Philharmonic and, in 1965, the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the New Zealand Government, per the New Zealand Symphony ...

. Kontra was a versatile musician who played jazz with the Danish bassist

Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (; 27 May 1946 – 19 April 2005), also known by his abbreviated nickname NHØP, was a Danish jazz double bassist. Biography Pedersen was born in Osted, near Roskilde, on the Danish island of Zealand, the son o ...

—their collaboration is preserved on video. Moreover, from 1965 to 1988 Kontra served as concertmaster of the Zealand Symphony Orchestra, also calle
Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra
'', and after that in

Malmö Symphony Orchestra The Malmö Symphony Orchestra () is a Swedish orchestra, based in Malmö. Since 2015, it has been resident at the Malmö Live Concert Hall. The orchestra has a complement of 94 musicians. History The orchestra was founded in 1925 with Walther ...

, and he made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

in the 1972 film ''

The Olsen Gang's Big Score ''The Olsen Gang's Big Score'' () is a 1972 Danish comedy film directed by Erik Balling and starring Ove Sprogøe. The film was the fourth in the ''Olsen-banden''-series. Cast * Ove Sprogøe as Egon Olsen * Morten Grunwald as Benny Frandsen ...

''. In 1973, with Morten Zeuthen, Boris Samsing and Peter Fabricius, Kontra founded the influential Kontra Quartet, one of Denmark's leading ensembles. Kontra recorded many works by Danish composers, amongst them

Per Nørgård Per Nørgård (; 13 July 1932 – 28 May 2025) was a Danish composer and music theorist. Though his style varied considerably throughout his career, his music often included repeatedly evolving melodies, in the vein of Jean Sibelius, and a per ...

, whose Violin Concerto No. 1, "Helle Nacht", is one of the highlights in Kontra's discography. He performed

Vittorio Monti Vittorio Monti (6 January 186820 June 1922) was an Italian composer, violinist, mandolinist and conductor. His most famous work is his ''Csárdás'', written around 1904. Life and career Monti was born in Naples, where he studied violin and ...

's ''

Csárdás Csárdás (, ; ), often seen as Czárdás, is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, the name derived from ' (old Hungarian term for roadside tavern and restaurant). It originated in Hungary and was popularized by bands in Hungary as well as neighb ...

'', accompanied by improvisational pianist-comedian

Victor Borge Børge Rosenbaum (; 3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish and American actor, comedian, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in both North America and Europe. Hi ...

.Fabricius, P., Lønsted, V., & Zeuthen, M., ''Anton Kontra: Historien om en kunstner'' (

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Gyldendal Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal (), is a Danish publishing house. Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of ...

, 2010),
p. 50

References

External links

Anton Kontra
discography at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Anton Kontra
discography at

MusicBrainz MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB, Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for ...

Anton Kontra's curriculum vitae

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kontra, Anton 1932 births 2020 deaths Concertmasters Hungarian violinists Hungarian emigrants to Denmark Hungarian Romani people People from Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni