The Egon Petri Tradition
Piano Traditions Through Their Genealogy Trees
© 2022, by Daniel Pereira
Doctor of Musical Arts | www.daniel-pereira.com
Alvarado, Herculano
Guatemalan (Totonicapán, November 7, 1879 — September 9, 1921)
Herculano Alvarado was a pianist and composer. He initially studied with his father and then at the Conservatorio Nacional of Guatemala, where he later taught and directed. Alvarado also studied in Naples with Beniamino Cesi. He composed Elektra, Tardes de Abril and Pensiero Melódico, among other works.
Aubert, Johnny
Swiss (Geneva, November 11, 1889 — Geneva, May 1, 1954)
Johnny Aubert was a pianist and teacher. He studied at the Geneva Conservatory with Oscar Schulz and Marie Panthès. He concertized in Europe and in the United States until he developed a paralysis in one of his arms. Aubert taught at the Geneva Conservatory for 40 years.
Bertram, Georg
German (Berlin, April 27, 1882 — New York, July 14, 1941)
Georg Bertram was a pianist and teacher. He studied with Ernst Jedliczka. He taught at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin where his students included Max Saal, Salvador Ley and Lilly Durmont.
Busoni, Ferruccio
Italian (Empoli, Tuscany, April 1, 1866 — Berlin, July 27, 1924)
Ferrucio Busoni was a pianist and composer. Born in the region of Tuscany, his family moved to Trieste in the Northern part of the country when he was only a few months old and, as a result, he was influenced by a Germanic atmosphere. His father, who gave Busoni his first piano instruction focused on Bach, was a virtuoso clarinet player, and his Austrian-born mother was a pianist. Although Busoni was baptized Catholic, he was fundamentally an atheist. He entered the Vienna Conservatory at the age of nine but, unhappy with the curriculum of studies, left after only two years. He taught at the Helsinki College of Music, New England Conservatory in the USA and at the Vienna Conservatory, and also in Switzerland and Moscow, where he married Gerda Sjöstrand. He enjoyed giving “historical recitals”, inspired by Anton Rubinstein, such as the six concerts he performed in Berlin in 1911 championing the music of Liszt or the series of eight recitals devoted to the keyboard literature since J.S. Bach. His extensive output includes works of a broad compositional spectrum including the monumental Piano Concerto (with a male chorus finale), Fantasia contrappuntistica, Suite Campestre, 24 Preludi, Sonata in F, Sonatina Seconda and the Toccata. The letters “BV” or “KiV” following his compositions refer to Jürgen Kindermann´s catalogue. Busoni mastered an extensive repertory and produced a number of Bach transcriptions such as the organ preludes and the Chaconne and published an annotated edition of the Well-tempered clavier and of Liszt´s works for the Franz-Liszt-Stiftung. He made several 78-rpm and piano-roll recordings including Liszt´s Feux follets and Réminiscences de Don Juan.
[See the Ferruccio Busoni Tradition]
Carreño, Teresa
Venezuelan (Caracas, Venezuela, December 22, 1853 — New York, June 12, 1917)
Teresa Carreño was a pianist, composer and singer. Both her grandfather and father were musicians, and she received her early musical training with the latter. In 1862, the family moved to New York City, where Carreño made her debut when she was eight years old. She also lived in Paris and Boston, and concertized with great acclaim in Europe, Australia, Africa, South America and in the United States. She championed the works of American composers, particularly the music of Edward MacDowell. Carreño also appeared on occasion as an opera singer. She composed about 80 works including the Marche triomphale op. 8, Ballade op. 15 and Vals Gayo op. 38. Carreño recorded a number of piano rolls for Welte-Mignon and Duo-Art in 1905 and 1914, respectively. She married four times: the violinist Emile Sauret, the baritone Giovanni Tagliapietra, and later his brother Arturo Tagliapietra, and the pianist Eugen d´Albert. Among the pallbearers at her funeral were Paderewski, Hutcheson and Elman.
Cesi, Beniamino
Italian (Naples, November 6, 1845 — January 19, 1907)
Beniamino Cesi was a pianist and teacher and a key figure in establishing the Neapolitan piano school. He took his first piano lessons from his father and then studied with Luigi Albanesi and Sigismond Thalberg. He taught at the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples and at the Conservatory of Parma and, between 1885 and 1891, he was professor of piano at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, upon Anton Rubinstein´s invitation. Cesi wrote an influential piano method, Metodo per pianoforte. Among his eminent pupils were Giuseppe Martucci, Alessandro Longo, Michele Esposito and Leopoldo Mugnone. His two sons, Napoleone and Sigismondo, were also pianists and composers.
[See the Beniamino Cesi Tradition]
Cortot, Alfred Denis
Swiss-French (Nyon, September 26, 1877 — Lausanne, June 15, 1962)
Alfred Cortot was a pianist, conductor and teacher. He studied with Chopin´s pupil Émile Decombes and with Louis Diémer. At the Paris Conservatoire, he won the premier prix in 1896. He conducted the Parisian premiere of Wagner´s Götterdämmerung in 1902 and the first French performances of Parsifal, in concert form, Beethoven´s Missa Solemnis and Brahms´s German Requiem. He formed a trio with Jacques Thibaud and Pablo Casals. Cortot made editions of the music of Chopin, Liszt and Schumann for Éditions Durand. Cortot taught at the Paris Conservatoire and founded the École Normale de Musique. In March 1925, Cortot made the world´s first commercial electrical recording of classical music for the Victor Talking Machine Company with Chopin´s Impromptus and Schubert´s Litanei. His first cousin was the composer Edgard Varése.
[See the Alfred Cortot Tradition]
Diémer, Louis-Joseph
French (Paris, February 14, 1843 — Paris, December 21, 1919)
Louis Diémer was a pianist, composer and teacher. He studied with A.F. Marmontel at the Paris Conservatoire where he obtained premiers prix in solfège, piano, harmony and accompaniment and counterpoint and fugue. Since 1887, he started teaching at the Conservatoire where his pupils included Cortot, Risler and Robert Casadesus. As a composer, Diémer wrote the Concert piece, op. 31 and the Concerto op. 31, both for piano and orchestra, Méthode supérieure de piano and over 70 piano piece and transcriptions.
[See the Louis Diémer Tradition]
Doguereau, Paul René
French (Angers, September 8, 1908 — Mount Holly Township, New Jersey, United States, March 3, 2000)
Paul Doguereau was a pianist and teacher. He studied with Marguerite Long at the Paris Conservatoire where he won the premier prix at age 15. He also took about 10 lessons with Paderewski in New York and studied with Emil von Sauer and Egon Petri in Europe. His students included David Korevaar, Earl Wild, Harrison Slater and Robert Taub. Doguereau lived in Boston for about 60 years.
Fissot, Alexis-Henri
French (Airaines, October 24, 1843 — Paris, January 29, 1896)
Alexis-Henri Fissot was a pianist, organist and composer. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 8 and received five Premier Prix. He studied with Antoine-François Marmontel. In 1865 he was appointed principal organist at Notre-Dame de Clignancourt and, in 1874, at Vincent-de-Paul. He composed Douze morceaux de genre op. 2 and Cent leçons d´harmonie.
Gottschalk, Louis Moreau
American (New Orleans, May 8, 1829 — Tijuca, Brazil, December 18, 1869)
Louis Moreau Gottschalk was a pianist and one of the most relevant American composers of the 19th century. He was recognized as a forerunner of the ragtime. His German-Jewish father was born in London and his mother had left Haiti for Louisiana during the 1790s. At the age of 11, Gottschalk travelled to France to study music. In 1845, Chopin congratulated the young pianist after a recital at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. Gottschalk concertized in Europe, became an idol in Spain under the support of Isabella II, and toured extensively in North America, Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Antilles. After he was forced to leave the USA due to a scandalous affair with a student, he travelled to South America where he continued to perform and had a profound influence on music education and Classical music in several countries. In 1869, he settled in Rio de Janeiro and organized the “monster concerts” featuring over 650 performers. His vast piano output consists of Classical and popular works including the Souvenirs d´Andalousie, La jota aragonesa, Le banjo, Last Hope, Souvenir de Puerto Rico, Bamboula, Le bananier and the Grande Tarantelle for piano and orchestra. Pianists John Kirkpatrick, Jeanne Behrend and Eugene List have championed Gottschalk´s piano works and contributed to increase an interest in his music.
Hirt, Franz Josef
Swiss (Lucerne, February 7, 1899 — Bern, May 20, 1985)
Franz Josef Hirt was a pianist. He studied with Egon Petri, Alfred Cortot, Hans Huber and Ernst Levy. Hirt taught at the Musikschule Konservatorium in Bern and at the École Normale de Musique de Paris.
Huber, Hans
Swiss (Eppenburg, Solothurn, June 28, 1852 — Locarno, December 25, 1921)
Hans Huber was a pianist, teacher and composer. He studied with Carl Reinecke at the Leipzig Conservatory. He settled in Basel in 1877 and taught at the conservatory. Huber married singer Ida Petzold, with whom he performed concerts. His piano output includes 4 piano concertos and 3 sonatas.
Jedliczka, Ernst
Russian-German (Poltava, May 24, 1855 — Berlin, August 3, 1904)
Ernst Jedliczka was a pianist, pedagogue and critic. His father was the composer Alois Jedliczka. He studied with Anton and Nikolay Rubinstein and Karl Klindworth at the Moscow Conservatory, where he taught from 1880 to 1887. He also taught at the Klindworth-Scharwenka and Stern conservatories in Berlin. Arthur Nevin and Olga Samaroff were among his students.
Johannesen, Grant
American (Salt Lake City, July 30, 1921 — Berlin, March 27, 2005)
Grant Johannesen was a pianist. He studied with Robert Casadesus and Egon Petri. His records include the complete piano music of Gabriel Fauré. His first wife was Juilliard-trained composer Helen Taylor, whose piano works he recorded. She died in car accident in 1950. His second wife was cellist Zara Nelsova.
Johansen, Gunnar
American (Copenhagen, January 21, 1906 — Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, May 25, 1991)
Gunnar Johansen was a pianist and composer of Danish birth. Upon Victor Schiøler´s suggestion, he studied in Berlin with Frederic Lamond and then with Egon Petri at the Hochshule für Musik. During his time in Germany, he became part of Busoni´s circle. From 1939 to 1976, Johansen was artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin. He frequently offered radio broadcasts and performed recitals covering a vast array of composers from the entire keyboard literature. An example of this feat were the 12 recitals given in 1935 performing works from Frescobaldi to Stravinsky. Johansen was interested not only in music but in many different areas which resulted in the foundation of the Leonardo Academy, devoted to the integration of arts and sciences and to avoid the fragmentation and specialization of human knowledge.
Korevaar, David
American (Madison, Wisconsin, 1962)
David Korevaar is a pianist, teacher and composer. He studied with Sherman Storr, Earl Wild, Abbey Simon and Paul Doguereau. He is a founding member of the Boulder Piano Quarter and Prometheus Piano Quartet. Korevaar is champion of contemporary works of such composers as Lera Auerbach, David Carlson, Geroge Rochberg and George Crumb. He has recorded over 40 cd´s. Korevaar taught at the Westport School of Music in Connecticut and currently teaches at the University of Colorado at Boulder. As a composer, he produced works for solo piano, a piano concerto and made transcriptions of Liszt´s symphonic poems Festklänge and Orpheus.
Lamond, Frederic
Scottish (Glasgow, January 28, 1868 — Stirling, February 21, 1948)
Frederic Lamond was a pianist, teacher and a child prodigy. He was a student of Max Schwarz, Franz Liszt and Hans von Bülow. He concertized extensively in Europe, Russia, United States and South America. Because of his rejection of Nazism, he was forced to live in Switzerland for a time and then moved back to England when World War II started. He was admired for his interpretations of the Beethoven piano sonatas and published Beethoven: Notes on the Sonatas in 1944. An incomplete autobiography was published posthumously in 1949 as The Memoirs of Frederic Lamond. He composed a handful of piano pieces and a piano trio.
Lévy, Ernst
Swiss (Basle, November 18, 1895 — Morges, April 19, 1981)
Ernst Lévy was a pianist, composer and writer on music. He studied in Basle and Paris with Hans Huber, Raoul Pugno and Egon Petri. He was director of the piano class at the Basle Conservatory. In 1928, he founded in Paris the Choeur Philharmonique, which premiered Brahms´s German Requiem and List´s Christus in the French capital. Between 1941 and 1966, Lévy held teaching positions at the New England Conservatory, Bennington College, University of Chicago, Brooklyn College and MIT. His recordings include the last Beethoven sonatas and Liszt´s B minor sonata. He composed 7 piano sonatas among other works.
Ley, Salvador
Guatemalan (Guatemala City, January 2, 1907 — Guatemala City, March 21, 1985)
Salvador Ley was a pianist and composer. He studied with Herculano Alvarado and Louis Roche in Guatemala, at the Hochschule für music in Berlin, and privately with George Bertram and Egon Petri. In 1934, he was appointed director at the National Conservatory in Guatemala, where he also taught. In 1953, Ley moved to the United States where he became a professor at the Westchester Conservatory in White Plains and was active as a pianist and accompanist. In 1978, he returned to Guatemala. As a composer, Salvador Ley produced Danza fantástica, Danza exótica, and Semblanza in Memoriam Maryla Jonas, among other works.
Long, Marguerite
French (Nîmes, November 13, 1874 — Paris, February 13, 1966)
Marguerite Long was a pianist and teacher. She studied with Henri Fissot at the Paris Conservatoire, where she won the Premier Prix in 1891, and also took private lessons with Antonin Marmontel. She premiered Ravel´s Le Tombeau de Couperin and Concerto in G. Between 1906 and 1940, Long taught at the Paris Conservatoire such eminent pianists as Samson François, Annie d´Arco and Jacques Février. In 1941, she founded a music school in Paris and, two years later, established a competition with Jacques Thibaud. She published Au piano avec Claude Debussy, Au piano avec Gabriel Fauré, Le piano and Le petite méthode de piano.
[See the Marguerite Long Tradition]
Lunde, Solveig
American (Vallejo, California, February 23, 1920 — Salt Lake City, June 13, 2011)
Solveig Lunde was a pianist and teacher. She studied with Gunnar Johansen and Harold Logan. Subsequently, she won a scholarship and pursued further studies at the Juilliard School with Olga Samaroff. Lunde toured extensively until 1950, when she married Lynn Madsen, a civil engineer with the Arabian American Oil Company. She drastically reduced her concert appearances and lived in Rome, New York, Washington D.C. and Saudi Arabia until 1971, when the family settled in Salt Lake City and she gradually resumed concertizing. She taught at Brigham Young University and at the University of Utah.
Marmontel, Antoine-François
French (Clermont-Ferrand, July 16, 1816 — Paris, January 16, 1898)
Antoine-François Marmontel was a pianist and teacher. Winner of the Premier Prix in 1832 at the Paris Conservatory, he taught there solfège first and then piano, succeeding his former teacher Pierre Zimmermann. His son Antonin-Emile-Louis Corbaz was also a pianist and became professor at the Conservatory. Marmontel published a number of books on music including Les pianistes célèbres, Histoire du piano et de ses origins and Virtuoses contemporains, and composed piano studies, sonatas and other piano works. He edited a large number of compositions for the École classique du piano.
[See the Antoine-François Marmontel Tradition]
Massart, Louise Aglaé
French (Paris, June 10, 1827 — Paris, July 26, 1887)
Louise Aglaé Massart was a pianist, composer and teacher. She studied with Louis Adam at the Paris Conservatoire and also with Henri Herz. In 1849, she married violinist Lambert Massart. In 1874, she was appointed professor of the Paris Conservatoire.
Sauer, Angélica Morales von
Mexican (Gurabo, Puerto Rico, February 22, 1911 — Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA, April 16, 1996)
Angélica Morales von Sauer was a pianist, composer and teacher. Her father was a Puerto Rican violinist, and her mother was Mexican. Her family moved to Mexico when she was 6 months old. When she was 12, she played for Josef Lhévinne, who interceded with the government to obtain her a scholarship. Morales studied in Philadelphia with Josef Hofmann and in New York with Rosina and Josef Lhévinne. Subsequently, she studied in Berlin with Egon Petri and in Vienna with Lisz´t pupil Emil von Sauer, whom she married. When Sauer died, Morales succeeded him at the Vienna Music Academy. After a period in Mexico between 1946 and 1955, when she taught at the Conservatorio Nacional, she held a teaching post at the University of Kansas until 1973
Ogdon, John
English (Mansfield Woodhouse, England, January 27, 1937 — London, August 1, 1989)
John Ogdon was a pianist and composer. He was endowed with a phenomenal capacity for sight-reading music. He premiered works of Goehr and Maxwell Davies as well as his own compositions. In 1960 he received the Busoni Prize, and, in 1962, he won ex aequo with Ashkenazy the first prize at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition, and also the Liszt Prize in London. He played an extensive repertory covering most of the styles and including a substantial amount of 20th century music. Among his numerous recordings is the massive, four-hour long, Opus clavicembalisticum of Sorabji. He married pianist Brenda Lucas, with whom he frequently performed duets. Although many of his compositions remained unfinished, S. Atman published a compilation of his works in The Compositions of John Ogdon: A Catalogue. Since the 1970s, Ogdon suffered from schizophrenia and died at the age of 52.
Paderewski, Ignacy Jan
Polish (Kursk, Podolia, November 18, 1860 — New York, June 29, 1941)
Ignacy Jan Paderewski was a pianist, composer and statesman. He was mainly self-taught during his early years and became an extraordinary improviser. Subsequently, he entered the Warsaw Conservatory and graduated in 1878. After a few years striving to make a living, he begun lessons with Leschetizky and shortly after was appointed professor at the Strasbourg Conservatory. Gradually, Paderewski´s pianistic and musical personality became well-known all over Europe and America. By the 1890s, his wealth had increased considerably. Due to his extravagant lifestyle and the numerous concerts, his health rapidly declined, and Paderewski commenced to take an active interest in politics, what resulted in his brief appointment as Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He resumed his performing activities in 1922. Paderewski composed a number of piano pieces including Chants du voyager op. 8, Piano concerto op. 17 and Variations and Fugue op. 23.
Panthès, Marie
French (Odessa, November 3, 1871 — Geneva, March 11, 1955)
Marie Panthès was a pianist born to French parents in the Russian Empire. She studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Henri Fissot and Louise Massart. She taught at the Geneva Conservatory from 1904 to 1917 and from 1931 to 1951. Her students included Julien Zbinden, Johnny Aubert and Isabelle Nef. Panthès suffered from melanoma.
Papaioannou, Marika
Greek (Athens, November 21, 1904 — Athens, July 2, 1994)
Marika Papaioannou was a pianist. She studied at the Athens Conservatory with Koula Papadiamantopoulou, at the Geneva Conservatory with Johnny Aubert and at the Paris Conservatoire with Isidor Philipp. She also received private lessons from Egon Petri and Arthur Schnabel. Papaioannou premiered numerous works of her compatriot Nikos Skalkottas. She taught at the Athens Conservatory between 1939 and 1977 and founded a private music school in Greece.
Petri, Egon
Dutch-German-American (Hanover, March 23, 1881 — Berkeley, California, May 27, 1962)
Egon Petri was a pianist and teacher. His father played in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and taught him the violin when Petri was 5 years old. Petri also learned the organ and the horn. He became one of the most respected of Busoni´s pupils and helped the Italian master with the corrections of operas and piano works and with the edition of Bach´s keyboard works. Petri had an active teaching career and held positions at the Royal Manchester College of Music, Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, Cornell University, Mills College and San Francisco Conservatory. He was naturalized American in 1955. Petri made remarkable recordings including the works of his teacher Busoni. He was fluent in 6 languages.
[See the Egon Petri Tradition]
Rachmaninov, Sergei
Russian (Oneg, April 1, 1873 — Beverly Hills, March 28, 1943)
Sergei Rachmaninov was a pianist, conductor and composer. The dates on his tomb show his birthdate as April 2. He received his first piano lessons from his mother and then from Anna Ornatskaya, a former student of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. Rachmaninov´s family moved to Saint Petersburg, where he attended the conservatory and studied under Vladimir Demyansky. Subsequently, he was a pupil of Zverev and also of his cousin Siloti at the Moscow Conservatory. As the Revolution of 1917 approached and turmoil grew, Rachmaninov and his family left Russia and would never return. He lived in Stockholm and Copenhagen, and finally settled in the United States in 1918. He suffered from lumbago, arthritis and extreme fatigue. Rachmaninov performed his last concert in Knoxville and, shortly after, died from cancer. Rachmaninov produced a significant piano output including four piano concertos, Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini, collections of preludes and études-tableaux, Variations on a theme by Chopin and six Moments musicaux.
Reinecke, Carl
German (Altona, June 23, 1824 — Leipzig, March 10, 1910)
Carl Reinecke was a pianist, composer, conductor, teacher, administrator, painter and poet. He received a complete music instruction from his father J.P. Rudolf Reinecke. He was appointed court pianist in Copenhagen in 1846 and taught counterpoint and piano at Hiller´s conservatory in Cologne and at the Leipzig Conservatory, which he also directed and transformed into a famous school in Europe. In Leipzig, Reinecke also conducted the Gewandhaus Orchestra. As a composer, he wrote a substantial amount of works including piano sonatinas, exercises and four piano concertos. He was remarkably noted in the “Hausmusik” style. Reinecke also wrote books and essays on music subjects.
[See the Carl Reinecke Tradition]
Rubinstein, Anton
Russian (Vikhvatintsï, Ukraine, November 16 or 28, 1829 — Peterhof, now Petrodvoret, November 8 or 20, 1894)
Anton Rubinstein was a pianist, conductor, composer and teacher. He was a colossus of the piano and regarded an equal to Liszt. He had a tremendous impact on Russian´s musical life and education that lasts until today, establishing the pedagogical and interpretative principles of what came to be known as the Russian School of pianism. His early piano instruction came from his mother and, subsequently, Alexander Villoing taught the child prodigy and took him on an extended concert tour all over Europe, meeting Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer. In 1848, the Gran Duchess Yelena Pavlina took interest in the young pianist, offering him lodging quarters in one of her palaces, having him perform for the tsar´s family and, years after, envisioning and planning together a revolution in the musical education in Russia. As a result, they founded the Russian Musical Society in 1859 and the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1862. He embarked on several extended concert tours including one in the USA with Wieniawski in which they played over 215 recitals in a period of about 8 months. His repertoire was humongous, as the seven historical recitals he gave in Europe and Russia between 1885 and 1886, encompassing all the history of the piano literature. His piano output is extensive, including five piano concertos, four piano sonatas, Tarantella, Six Preludes, Suite and the famous Melody in F op. 3 no. 1.
[See the Anton Rubinstein Tradition]
Sauer, Emil [von]
German (Hamburg, October 8, 1862 — Vienna, April 27, 1942)
Emil von Sauer was a pianist, teacher and composer. He received his first instruction from his Scottish mother. He taught at the Vienna Conservatory and influenced many world-class pianists. In 1917, Sauer added the “von” to his name after the Austrian Emperor ennobled him. His compositions include two piano concertos, two sonatas and a number of other virtuoso pieces. He produced a few recordings including Liszt´s both piano concerti. Peters published a substantial amount of his editions. Sauer wrote an autobiography titled Meine Welt. His second wife was the Mexican pianist Angelica Morales.
[See the Emil von Sauer Tradition]
Schepkin, Sergei
Russian-American (Saint Petersburg, September 24, 1962)
Sergei Schepkin is a pianist. He studied with Leah Zelikhman and at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory with Alexandra Zhukovsky, Grigory Sokolov and Alexander Ikharev. In 1990, he settled in the United States and became a pupil of Russell Sherman at the New England Conservatory. He also received private lessons from Paul Doguereau. Schepkin taught at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, University of Iowa, New England Conservatory, MIT, and, since 2003, at Carnegie Mellon University of Pittsburgh. Schepkin´s recordings include the Bach´s Well-tempered clavier and the Goldberg Variations, Debussy´s Preludes I, Images I, and Mussorgsky´s Pictures at an Exhibition.
Schnabel, Artur
Austrian-American (Lipnik, April 17, 1882 — Axenstein, Switzerland, August 15, 1951)
Artur Schnabel was a pianist, composer and teacher. He studied with Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna. He frequently performed with Casals, Feuermann, Fournier, Hindemith, Huberman, Szigeti and Primrose. He taught at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin and at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Clifford Curzon and Claude Frank were among his pupils. Schnabel made the first recording ever of the complete Beethoven sonatas for HMV and also recorded the 5 concertos and the Diabelli Variations. Schnabel composed a number of works including a piano concerto and published several books including My Life and Music and Reflections on Music and edited the Beethoven´s sonatas and the Diabelli Variations. In 1905, he married contralto Therese Behr.
[See the Artur Schnabel Tradition]
Shlonsky, Verdina
Ukrainian-Israeli (Kremenchug, January 22, 1905 — Tel-Aviv, February 20, 1990)
Verdina Shlonsky was a pianist and composer. She studied at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik with Egon Petri and Artur Schnabel. She lived in Paris where he became in close contact with Arthur Honegger and Darius Milhaud and studied composition with Nadia Boulanger, Edgard Varèse and Max Deutsch. After a period in London, she moved to Palestine in 1945 and taught at Tel-Aviv University and worked as a music critic. Her piano compositions include the Piano concerto in two movements, Three Ballades and 13 Miniatures.
Slenczynska, Ruth
American (Sacramento, California, January 15, 1925)
Ruth Slenczynska is a pianist. She gave her first piano recital at age four. She studied briefly at Curtis Institute, in Germany with Egon Petri and Artur Schnabel, and in Paris with Alfred Cortot, with whom she studied for seven years. Finally, Sleczyinska received some lessons from Rachmaninov. According to the Grove Music Online: Having returned to Berkeley to escape the war in Europe and finding the transition from prodigy to mature artist difficult, in 1941 Slenczynska entered the University of California, where she majored in psychology. Seeking to free herself from the dictatorial demands of her father, who had imposed on her a nine-hour-a-day practice regimen and a rigorous touring schedule, she also married and withdrew from concertizing. After her father died in 1951, Slenczynska resumed her concert career. She taught at the Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville from 1964 to 2002. Her numerous recordings include 11 compact discs for the Liu MAER label.
Stamaty, Camille
Greco-French (Rome, March 13 or 23, 1811 — Paris, April 19, 1870)
Camille Stamaty was a pianist, composer and teacher. He continued Kalkbrenner´s tradition of piano playing in France. While he was deciding between studying music or adventuring into business, he worked at the Prefecture of the Seine. He made his debut at the Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1835, performing Kalkbrenner´s Grand Duo in D op. 128 for two pianos, with the composer himself. In 1862, he received the Chevalier of the Légion d´Honneur distinction. Stamaty composed several piano works including the Grande Sonate op. 20, and the Sicilienne dans le genre ancient. He also produced pedagogical works as the five-volume L´ecole du pianist classique et modern and the 25 études pour piano op. 11, used by the Paris Conservatory as part of its teaching methods.
Swan, Robert
American
Robert Swan is a pianist and teacher. His teachers included Earl Wild, Eugene List, Mieczyslaw Munz and Paul Doguereau. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam war. Swan taught at Turtle Bay Music School in New York and now is a professor at Seattle Pacific University and at Music Works Northwest.
Szreter, Karol
Polish (Lodz, September 29, 1898 — Berlin, March 20, 1933)
Karol Szreter was a pianist. He was a child prodigy. He studied at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory and in Berlin with Egon Petri. Under the pseudonym Tri-Eong-Trio, Szreter performed with Gregor Piatigorsky and Max Rostal. Most of his recordings have been compiled in a two-cd set by Pearl, first issued by Parlophone between 1927-1930. Szreter died from leukemia at 34.
Vronsky, Vitya
Ukrainian (Evpatoria, Crimea, August 22, 1909 — Cleveland, 1922)
Vitya Vronsky was a pianist. She studied at the Kiev Conservatory, with Artur Schnabel in Berlin and with Alfred Cortot. She performed in a piano duo with her husband Victor Babin. During World War II, Vronsky helped with was casualties in Washington D.C.
Wild, Earl
American (Pittsburgh, November 26, 1915 — Palm Springs, California, January 23, 2010)
Considered as one of the last pianists from the Romantic tradition, he was endowed with extraordinary sigh-reading skills and technique, which obtained him his first jobs as a pianist for the Pittsburgh Orchestra, under Klemperer, and for the NBC Orchestra, under Toscanini. He premiered piano concertos by Paul Creston and Marvin David Levy, and Martinu Cello Sonata no. 2. His vast discography comprises over 30 piano concertos and 600 piano works, including pieces by Herz, Medtner, Scharwenka, Paderewski, Moszkowski and D´Albert. As a composer, he wrote symphonic, choral and piano works including the Doo-Dah Variations for piano and orchestra, and also virtuoso transcriptions of works by Gershwin, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky.
[See the Earl Wild Tradition]
Zadora, Michael von
Polish-American (New York, June 14, 1882 — New York, June 30, 1946)
Michael von Zadora was a pianist and composer. He received his first piano lessons from his father and later studied at the Paris Conservatoire. He also worked with Leschetizky, Busoni and Petri. Zadora taught at the Lemberg Conservatory and at the Institute of Musical Art in New York. He composed numerous works for the piano including the Kirgiz Sketches and made Bach and Buxtehude transcriptions. Sometimes he signed his compositions with the pseudonym Pietro Amadis.
© 2022, by Daniel Pereira