Jean-Rodolphe Kars (born 1947) is an Indian-born French

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, ...

of Austrian Jewish origin, who became a Catholic priest of the Catholic Emmanuel Community.

Biography

The parents of Jean-Rodolphe Kars were both Viennese Jews who had fled Austria after the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

in 1938. They met in Calcutta, India, where Gustav Kars (himself born in 1913 in Shanghai) met Mila, a qualified doctor (who had volunteered to work in a

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

hospital after being widowed in New Zealand). Jean-Rodolphe – Gustav's first child and Mila's second – was born in 1947. Deciding that Europe would offer their children the possibility of a superior education, the Kars family left India for France. They lived for some years in a small town in the Haute Loire, but eventually settled in Paris where Gustav found employment in a private Jewish school. The family's circumstances were quite modest, but Jean-Rodolphe's musical ability was obvious; he gained entrance to the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied from 1958–64. He also studied with Julius Katchen. From 1974, Jean-Rodolphe Kars studied with the French pianist and pedagogue Jean Fassina, the most important and inspiring teaching, according to Kars, in his musical formation. At the age of 19, Jean-Rodolphe Kars took part in the second Leeds Piano Competition (1966). In somewhat controversial circumstances, Kars received the fourth prize, with the first prize going to the Spaniard Rafael Orozco, the second being awarded jointly to the Russians Viktoria Postnikova and Semion Kruchin, and the third to the Russian Aleksey Nasedkin. Kars' London debut was in 1967; in 1968 he was awarded first prize in the Olivier Messiaen piano competition. During this time the Kars family lived in a working-class area of Paris called quartier Alésia, in an apartment so cramped that the piano and a tiny bath installation (isolated by a curtain) had to be kept in the same room. In 1971, he partook in a well received tour of Southern Africa. Kars' upbringing had been that of a secular Jew; in 1976, however, he converted to Catholicism and was baptised at

Sacré-Cœur, Paris The Basilica of Sacré Cœur de Montmartre (English language, English: Sacred Heart of Montmartre), commonly known as Sacré-Cœur Basilica and often simply Sacré-Cœur (, pronounced ), is a Catholic Church, Catholic church and minor basilica in ...

, in 1977. In 1980, he joined a Catholic association of the faithful (the Emmanuel Community). In 1981, he ended his official career as concert pianist. In 1986 he entered the priesthood, becoming Père Jean-Rodolphe Kars. Since 1986, he has been Chaplain of

Paray-le-Monial Paray-le-Monial is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Since 2004, Paray-le-Monial has been part of the Charolais-Brionnais region. Its inhabitants are called Parodiens and P ...

, a town in the

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

region of France. Although he possessed a varied and eclectic repertoire, ranging from Bach to Schoenberg, Kars then specialized in the works of

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century, he was also an ou ...

. Later, as a priest, he also lectured and wrote articles on the spiritual and theological aspects of the music of the great French composer. Having begun to study Messiaen's music and writings as long ago as 1966, Kars credits him with playing an important role in his eventual conversion to Catholicism and his vocation as a priest, and considers him his 'first spiritual father'.

Recordings

Debussy: ''Fantasie for Piano and Orchestra''
Jean-Rodolphe Kars (Piano); Sir Alexander Gibson; London Symphony Orchestra (DECCA) Debussy: ''Preludes for Piano'', Book 1; Book 2
Jean-Rodolphe Kars (Piano) (DECCA) Delius: '' Concerto for Piano in C minor''
Jean-Rodolphe Kars (Piano); Sir Alexander Gibson; London Symphony Orchestra (DECCA) Schoenberg: ''Three Piano pieces Op 11''; ''Six Little Piano Pieces Op 19''; ''Five Piano pieces Op 23''; ''Suite for Piano Op 25''; ''Piano Pieces Op 33a and b''
Jean-Rodolphe Kars (Piano) (EMI France, C 065 12870; 1975) Messiaen: "Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus". Jean-Rodolphe Kars (piano) (Piano classics, 2017) Recording of a concert given by Jean-Rodolphe Kars in 1976 in Amsterdam.

Writings

*Père Jean-Rodolphe Kars: '', in ''Olivier Messiaen, homme de foi, regard sur son œuvre d’orgue'' (Trinité Média Communication, 1995). *Père Jean-Rodolphe Kars: 'Das Werk Olivier Messiaens und die katholische Liturgie', in ''Olivier Messiaen. La Cite celeste – das himmlische Jerusalem. Über das Leben und Werk des französischen Komponisten'' (Köln Wienand Verlag, 1998). *Père Jean-Rodolphe Kars: 'The Spirituality of Messiaen's Organ Works', ''Organists Review'', November 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kars, Jean-Rodolphe 1947 births Living people Musicians from Kolkata 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists French Roman Catholic priests Prize-winners of the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Clergy from Paris