Dan Grigore (born 6 August 1943) is a

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 ...

n classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. He is regarded as one of the great pianists of the twentieth century, as well as one of the four greatest Romanian pianists of all time (along with

Clara Haskil Clara Haskil (7 January 1895 – 7 December 1960) was a Romanian classical pianist, renowned as an interpreter of the classical and early romantic repertoire. She was particularly noted for her performances and recordings of Mozart. She was als ...

Dinu Lipatti Constantin "Dinu" Lipatti (; 2 December 1950) was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was cut short by his death from effects related to Hodgkin's disease at age 33. He was elected posthumously to the Romanian Academy. He comp ...

, and

Radu Lupu Radu Lupu (30 November 1945 – 17 April 2022) was a Romanian pianist. He was widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists of his time. Born in Galați, Romania, Lupu began studying piano at the age of six. Two of his major piano teache ...

).Lompech, Alain, ''Grands Pianistes du XXe Siècle''. 1st ed., Paris: Buchet Chastel (2012),

Early life

Dan Grigore was born in 1943 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. His father, Nicolae Grigore, was a fighter pilot in the Romanian Air Force and a World War II hero (subsequently promoted to general); one street in Bucharest is named after him. His mother, Polixenia (née Cosîmbescu) was a housewife. Grigore took his first music lessons with his mother, who had studied violin in her teens. At the age of three, he began to play his own compositions. In 1949, at six, he started private piano lessons with Eugenia Ionescu, a famous teacher of her time who had studied at Leipzig with

Robert Teichmüller Robert Teichmüller (4 May 1863, in Braunschweig – 6 May 1939, in Leipzig) was a German concert pianist and music educator. He studied piano and music theory with Carl Reinecke at the Leipzig Conservatory where he later became a faculty member ...

and

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

. She immediately realized that the child had

absolute pitch Absolute pitch (AP), often called perfect pitch, is the ability to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone. AP may be demonstrated using linguistic labelling ("naming" a note), associating mental image ...

. Eugenia Ionescu used to hold musical soirees in her home, where she would invite famous pianists and teachers of the time to listen to him, including

Florica Musicescu Florica Musicescu (21 May 1887, Iași–19 March 1969, Bucharest) was a renowned Romanian pianist and musical pedagogue, daughter of the renowned composer, conductor and musicologist Gavriil Musicescu. She taught piano music for many decade ...

Cella Delavrancea Cella Delavrancea (15 December 1887 – 9 August 1991) was a Romanian pianist, writer and teacher of piano, eldest daughter of writer Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea, sister of architect Henrieta Delavrancea-Gibory, Niculina Delavrancea and "Bebs" ...

, Constanța Erbiceanu, Muza Ciomac,

Silvia Șerbescu Silvia Șerbescu (January 27, 1903 – April 22, 1965) was a Romanian concert pianist. She was one of the first important concert pianists emerging from the Romanian piano school, and a distinguished piano pedagogue. Her interpretations of Rachman ...

, Nadia Chebap, and Madeleine Cocorăscu, among others. It soon became clear that Grigore was a child prodigy. It was during these musical soirees that Dan Grigore was discovered by the famous composer and professor

Mihail Jora Mihail Jora (; 2 August 1891, Roman, Romania - 10 May 1971, Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian composer, pianist, and conductor. Jora studied in Leipzig with Robert Teichmüller. From 1929 to 1962 he was a professor at the Bucharest Conservato ...

(member of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...

), a close friend of

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 ...

and former teacher of

.Grigore, Dan; Radu, Dia, ''Lumea în Si bemol - Dan Grigore de vorbă cu Dia Radu''. 1st ed., Bucharest: Polirom (2016), Around 1955, Grigore's family was in deep financial trouble following the

Soviet occupation of Romania The Soviet occupation of Romania refers to the period from 1944 to August 1958, during which the Soviet Union maintained a significant military presence in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania. The fate of the territories held by Romania after 1 ...

(August 23, 1944). After the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

's rise to power (by frauding the 1946 general elections) and the forced abdication at gunpoint of King Michael I of Romania, Grigore's father had been stripped of all his military decorations and dismissed from the army during the great Communist purge of the 1950s. Also, Grigore's maternal grandfather had been sent to prison and lost his pension for sending a letter to the American Embassy in which he had described the abuses of the Communist regime. Given the family's hardship and the child's unusual talent, Mihail Jora (although in financial trouble himself due to similar political reasons) generously offered to give Grigore private lessons free of charge, which he did for the next seven years (between 1955-1962). Jora had great admiration for his young student. In a reference sent to the Ministry of Culture, he stated, "Dan Grigore is an exceptional talent which all the so-called 'great Romanian talents' bear no comparison to". This resulted in a special scholarship (1955-1958) awarded by the Romanian Composers' Association. In 1957, the fourteen-year-old Grigore made his first appearance on stage with three recently discovered works of George Enescu in first world audition (''Chorale'', ''Burlesque'', and ''Carillon nocturne'' from the Piano Suite no. 3 ''Pièces impromptues'', Op. 18). Between 1958-1962 Dan Grigore also studied with the famous professor Florica Musicescu, former teacher of Dinu Lipatti. During this time, he received a special scholarship from George Enescu's widow, Princess Maria Cantacuzino, who granted him personal use of the great composer's piano for five years.

Education and career

In 1962, on the recommendation of his two mentors, Florica Musicescu and Mihail Jora, Grigore was awarded a five-year scholarship at the

Saint Petersburg Conservatory The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory () (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty member ...

(Prof. Tatiana Kravchenko). The close encounter with the Russian music, literature, and society proved crucial for the young pianist. It was also during this time that he first attended live performances of

Sviatoslav Richter Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time,Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his interpreta ...

Aldo Ciccolini Aldo Ciccolini (; 15 August 1925 – 1 February 2015) was an Italian pianist who became a naturalized French citizen in 1971. Biography Aldo Ciccolini was born in Naples. His father, whose family bore the title of Marquis in the city of Macera ...

, and

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (; 5 January 1920 – 12 June 1995) was an Italian classical pianist. He is considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. According to ''The New York Times'', he was perhaps the most reclusive, ...

. However, the

personality clash A personality clash occurs when two (or more) people find themselves in conflict not over a particular issue or incident, but due to a fundamental incompatibility in their personalities, their approaches to things, or their style of life. A person ...

with Kravchenko (despite his excellent student record), combined with the extremely poor living conditions in the student facilities of the Soviet Union (extreme cold, lack of hot running water, poor food, disease, and lack of private access to a piano) ultimately made him drop the five-year scholarship after completing the first two years in 1964. He received full scholarship and transferred (as a third-year student) to the

Bucharest Conservatory The National University of Music Bucharest (, UNMB) is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in 1931, it has functioned as a public university since ...

, from which he graduated first in his class in 1967. In 1968, the famous professor and conductor

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

offered Grigore a full scholarship at the

American Conservatory in Fontainebleau The Fontainebleau Schools were founded in 1921, and consist of two schools: ''The American Conservatory'', and the ''School of Fine Arts at Fontainebleau''. History When the American Expeditionary Forces entered the First World War, the command ...

, which was denied by the Romanian Communist regime. In 1969, Jora won the

Herder Prize The Herder Prize (), named after the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), was a prestigious international prize awarded every year from 1964 to 2006 to scholars and artists from Central and Southeast Europe whose life and wor ...

and nominated Grigore for the Herder one-year scholarship at the

Vienna Academy of Music The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

(under the supervision of the revered professor Richard Hauser). Hauser was so impressed with the young pianist that in 1970 he attempted to secure a one-year extension for Grigore's scholarship. The project never came to fruitition because of Hauser's death.

Repertoire

Notable recordings

*1987 -

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, Piano Concerto in A minor, with Emil Simon and the Cluj-Napoca Philharmonic *1987 -

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 ...

, Piano Concerto No. 5 (Beethoven), with Emil Simon and the Cluj-Napoca Philharmonic *1987 -

Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...

, Piano Concerto in A minor, with Emil Simon and the Cluj-Napoca Philharmonic *1987 -

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky) The Piano Concerto No. 1 in B minor, Op. 23, was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky between November 1874 and February 1875.Maes, 75. It was revised in 1879 and in 1888. It was first performed on October 25, 1875, in Boston by Hans von Bülow ...

, with

Cristian Mandeal Cristian is the Romanian, Spanish and Italian form of the male given name Christian. In Romanian, it is also a surname. Cristian may refer to: People * Cristian (footballer, born 1994), Brazilian footballer * Cristian Adomniței (born 1975), Ro ...

and the Cluj-Napoca Philharmonic *???? -

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

Piano Concerto No. 1 (Brahms) The Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15, is a work for piano and orchestra completed by Johannes Brahms in 1858. The composer gave the work's public debut in Hanover, the following year. It was his first-performed orchestral work ...

, with

Mihai Brediceanu Mihai Brediceanu (14 June 1920 – 4 March 2005) was a Romanian composer, conductor, and musicologist. Biography He was born in Brașov, the son of composer Tiberiu Brediceanu and grandson of Coriolan Brediceanu. He studied the piano at the Bra ...

and the "George Enescu" Philharmonic

Honours

* Knight of the

Order of Arts and Letters The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

, France (1999) * Grand Cross of the

National Order of Faithful Service The National Order of Faithful Service () is the second highest national order of Romania after the Order of the Star of Romania, and the third highest State decoration, with the Order of Michael the Brave being the first. Originally it was establ ...

, Romania (2000) * ''Doctor Honoris Causa'',

George Enescu National University of Arts The George Enescu National University of Arts () is a public university in Iași, Romania, founded in 1860. It was named in honor of the composer George Enescu. History The institution was established on 1 October 1860, as the ''Music and Declam ...

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

, Romania (2005) * Grand Cross of the National Order of the Star of Romania, Romania (2007) * Royal Decoration of the Cross of the Romanian Royal House, Romania (2008) * Royal Decoration of Nihil Sine Deo, Romania (2013) * Pianist of the Royal House of Romania, Romania (2013)

External links

"Dan Grigore" at George Enescu Festival

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grigore, Dan 1943 births Romanian composers Romanian male composers Musicians from Bucharest Living people 21st-century Romanian classical pianists Grand Crosses of the Order of the Star of Romania