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Rudolf Firkušný

April 11, 2024

Rudolf Firkušný (Czech: [ˈrudolf ˈfɪrkuʃniː]; 11 February 1912 – 19 July 1994) was a Moravian-born, Moravian-American classical pianist.

Rudolf Firkušný in 1960
External audio
You may hear Rudolf Firkušný performing Antonin Dvorak's Piano Concerto in G minor, Op.33 with George Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra in 1954 Here on archive.org

Life edit

Born in the Moravian town of Napajedla, Firkušný started his musical studies with the composers Leoš Janáček and Josef Suk, and the pianist Vilém Kurz. Later he studied with the legendary pianists Alfred Cortot and Artur Schnabel. He began performing on the continent of Europe in the 1920s, and made his debuts in London in 1933 and New York in 1938. He escaped the Nazis in 1939, fled to Paris, later settled in New York and eventually became a U.S. citizen.[1]

Firkušný had a broad repertoire and skillfully performed the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, and Brahms as well as Mussorgsky and Debussy. However, he became known especially for his performances of the Czech composers Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, Janáček, and Bohuslav Martinů (who wrote a number of works for him).

Firkušný championed Dvořák's only piano concerto, which he played with many different conductors and orchestras around the world and also recorded several times. Originally, he performed the revised version made by his teacher Kurz and even arranged it further; yet in the end, he came back to the original Dvořák score.

Firkušný was also a devoted chamber player, and among his most prominent partners were cellists Pierre Fournier, Gregor Piatigorsky, János Starker, and Lynn Harrell; violinists Nathan Milstein and Erika Morini; violist William Primrose; and the Juilliard String Quartet. He also gave many first performances of contemporary composers, not only Czech such as by his friends Martinů and Vítězslava Kaprálová but also Howard Hanson, Gian Carlo Menotti, Samuel Barber, and Alberto Ginastera.

Firkušný taught at the Juilliard School in New York, and in Aspen, Colorado as well as in the Berkshire Music Centre in Tanglewood. Among his students were Yefim Bronfman, Eduardus Halim, Alan Weiss, Sara Davis Buechner, Carlisle Floyd, Kathryn Selby, Avner Arad, June de Toth, Richard Cionco, Robin McCabe, Anya Laurence, Natasa Veljkovic and Carlo Grante. After the fall of the communist government in his homeland (the "Velvet Revolution" of 1989), Firkušný returned to Czechoslovakia to perform for the first time after more than 40 years of absence. This was acclaimed as one of the major events of his festival, along with the return of his compatriot and friend the conductor Rafael Kubelík. Firkušný retained his remarkable talents well into his later years and, for example, played a full Dvořák-Janáček-Brahms-Beethoven sonata recital in Prague on 18 May 1992 together with the violinist Josef Suk (the namesake and grandson of his teacher, and great-grandson of Dvořák). He played only two times at the Prague Spring International Music Festival. The first time was in 1946, when he performed Dvořák's piano concerto, and in 1990 he played the second piano concerto of Martinů.

Firkušný won praise from his famous colleague Vladimir Horowitz, who once exclaimed, "Rudolf Firkušný can play Schubert, that's for sure. I heard him on the radio this afternoon ... playing the three Klavierstücke. Beautiful!"[2] And the noted piano teacher and critic David Dubal called Firkušný "the preeminent Czech pianist of the twentieth century."[3]

In 1990 he received an honorary doctorate from Charles University in Prague and the order of T.G. Masaryk from President Vaclav Havel. Later in 1993, he received other honorary doctorates from Masaryk University in Brno and from Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts.

Firkušný died in Staatsburg, New York in 1994.[4] He was survived by a son, Igor Firkusny, and a daughter, Veronique Firkusny Callegari, a Barnard College graduate and award-winning translator.[5][6]

In 2007, his ashes and those of his wife, Tatiana Nevolová Firkušný, were reburied together in an honorary place at the Central Cemetery in Brno, close to his first teacher, Janáček, and directly next to the grave of Czech composer Jan Novák. In 2012, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of his birth, there was a large festival held by Brno's Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts to commemorate the centennial, featuring many of his former alumni from the Juilliard School. In 2013, the Prague Spring Festival established the Rudolf Firkušný Piano Festival held in Prague.

His student Carlisle Floyd's only piano sonata was written for Firkušný in the 1950s. Firkušný performed it once, at a Carnegie Hall recital. It then languished until being taken up in 2009 by the 74-year-old Daniell Revenaugh, who studied it with the composer and made its first recording.[7]

Discography selection edit

  • Beethoven: Sonatas No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 "Pathetique"; No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 "Moonlight"; No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 "Waldstein"; No. 30 in E, Op. 109 (EMI)
  • Beethoven: Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, with the New York Philharmonic/Guido Cantelli (AS Disc)
  • Beethoven: Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/William Steinberg (Decca)
  • Beethoven: Sonata No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 12, for violin and piano; Mozart: Sonata in C major, K. 296 for violin and piano, with Erica Morini, violin (Decca)
  • Beethoven: Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30, for violin and piano
  • Benda: Sonata No. 9 (Vox)
  • Brahms: Sonatas No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120, for viola and piano; No. 2 in E flat, Op. 120, for viola and piano, with William Primrose, viola (EMI)
  • Brahms: Concerto No. 1 in D minor, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/William Steinberg (EMI)
  • Brahms: Firkušný plays Brahms (EMI)
  • Brahms: Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108, for violin and piano, with Erica Morini, violin (Decca)
  • Brahms: Cello Sonatas, op. 38 & 99, with Pierre Fournier, cello (Deutsche Grammophon)
  • Chopin: Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58, Nocturne in E flat, Polonaise in C minor, Scherzo in B flat minor, Barcarolle, Waltz in C sharp minor, Nocturne in D flat, Grande valse brillante (EMI)
  • Debussy by Firkušný. Capitol.
  • Debussy: Estampes (Sugano)
  • Dussek: Sonata No. 28 in F minor, Op. 77 "L'Invocation" (Vox)
  • Dvořák: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor, Op. 33, with the Czech Philharmonic/Rafael Kubelík (Multisonic)
  • Dvořák: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor, Op. 33, with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra/Laszlo Somogyi (Westminster)
  • Dvořák: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor, Op. 33, with the Czech Philharmonic, Václav Neumann (RCA)
  • Dvořák: Piano Quartets, Opp. 23 31, and 87, Bagatelles, Op. 47, with the Juilliard String Quartet (CBS)
  • Dvořák: Piano Quintets, with the Ridge Quartet (RCA)
  • Dvořak: Dvořák in Prague: a Celebration, with Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Frederica von Stade, the Prague Philharmonic Chorus, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa (Sony)
  • Franck: Symphonic Variations, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Claus Peter Flor (RCA)
  • Haydn: Sonatas for piano Nos. 33 and 59 (BBC Legends)
  • Janáček: Concertino for piano, 2 violins, clarinet, bassoon a French horn; Capriccio forpiano and wind ensemble, with the Czech Philharmonic/Václav Neumann (Supraphon)
  • Janáček: Complete Works for Piano, with the Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra/Rafael Kubelík (Deutsche Grammophon)
  • Martinů: Piano Concerto No. 2, with the Czech Philharmonic/Jiří Bělohlávek (Supraphon)
  • Martinů: Piano Works (RCA)
  • Martinů: Piano Concertos Nos. 2, 3, 4, with the Czech Philharmonic/Libor Pešek (RCA)
  • Martinů: Cello Sonatas 1,2 and 3, with the Hungarian born cellist Janos Starker (RCA, at BMG Studio, New York, 1990)
  • Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, with the Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra/Louis Froment (Vox)
  • Mozart: Fantasia in C minor K. 475; Sonata in C minor K. 396 (Columbia)
  • Mozart: Piano Concertos K. 271, K. 451, K. 456, K. 466, K. 491, K. 503, with the SWF Sinfonie-Orchester Baden-Baden/Ernest Bour (Intercord)
  • Mozart: Piano Concerto K.466, with the Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester/Günter Wand (Hänssler)
  • Mozart: Concerto for Two Pianos in E-flat, K. 365; sonatas for four hands and two pianos, with Alan Weiss (Vox)
  • Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft)
  • Ravel: 3 piano pieces (Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft)
  • Schubert: Impromptus, Opp. 90, 142 (Philips)
  • Schubert: Drei Klavierstucke, D. 946 (BBC Legends)
  • Schubert: Sonata in B flat Major, D. 960 (BBC Legends)
  • Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54, with the Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra/Louis Froment (Vox)
  • Schumann: Davidsbündlertänze; Symphonic Etudes; Kinderszenen (EMI)
  • Smetana: Czech Dances (EMI)
  • Smetana: Fantasy in C major, Op. 17, Trio in G minor, with Kaufmann Van den Burg (Columbia)
  • Tomášek: Eclogue (Vox)
  • Voříšek: Impromptu No. 4, Op. 7 (Vox)

Videography edit

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Whitney, Craig R., "Rudolf Firkusny Once Again Plays In Czechoslovakia". The New York Times, May 29, 1990.
  2. ^ Dubal, David, Evenings with Horowitz: A Personal Portrait, Amadeus Press, 1991, p. 101.
  3. ^ Dubal, David, The Art of the Piano, A Harvest Book, 1995, p. 80.
  4. ^ Oestreich, James R. (July 20, 1994). "Rudolf Firkusny, an Elegant and Patrician Pianist, Is Dead at 82". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Remembering Rudolf Firkusny". The Juilliard School. 2012-06-20. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  6. ^ "Nineteen PEN Translates awards go to titles from fifteen countries and thirteen languages". English Pen. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  7. ^ Tabitha Yang (September–October 2009) . Tallahassee Magazine

References edit

  • Beith, Richard; Melville-Mason, Graham: Rudolf Firkusny. Essex: The Dvořák Society, 1999. ISBN 0-9532769-0-2
  • Dubal, David: Reflections from Keyboard: The World of the Concert Pianist. New York: Summit Books, 1984. ISBN 0-671-49240-3
  • Mach, Elyse: Great Contemporary Pianists Speak for Themselves. New York: Dover Publications, 1991. ISBN 0-486-26695-8
  • Marcus, Adele: Great Pianists Speak. Neptune, New Jersey: Paganiana Publications, 1979. ISBN 0-87666-617-9
  • Noyle, Linda J.: Pianists on Playing. Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 1987, reprint 2000. ISBN 0-8108-3889-3
  • Schonberg, Harold C.: The Great Pianists. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987, 1963. ISBN 0-671-64200-6
  • Šafařík, Jiří: Rudolf Firkušný. Brno: Universitas Masarykiana, 1994. ISBN 80-85834-10-3
  • Vrkočová, Ludmila: Slovníček hudebních osobností. 1999. ISBN 80-901611-5-4

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rudolf Firkušný.
  • Rudolf Firkusny biography
  • Rudolf Firkusny article
  • Rudolf Firkusny article
  • Rudolf Firkusny 100th Celebration 2012 at JAMU
  • Rudolf Firkusny Piano Festival
  • Základní umělecká škola Rudolfa Firkušného Napajedla

Interviews edit

  • Rudolf Firkusny interview by Bruce Duffie, November 2, 1990
  • David Dubal interview of Rudolf Firkušný, WNCN-FM, 16-Dec-1983

April 11, 2024
rudolf, firkušný, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, march, 2014, learn, when, remove, this, template, message, c. This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations March 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Rudolf Firkusny Czech ˈrudolf ˈfɪrkuʃniː 11 February 1912 19 July 1994 was a Moravian born Moravian American classical pianist Rudolf Firkusny in 1960External audioYou may hear Rudolf Firkusny performing Antonin Dvorak s Piano Concerto in G minor Op 33 with George Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra in 1954 Here on archive org Contents 1 Life 2 Discography selection 3 Videography 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links 7 1 InterviewsLife editBorn in the Moravian town of Napajedla Firkusny started his musical studies with the composers Leos Janacek and Josef Suk and the pianist Vilem Kurz Later he studied with the legendary pianists Alfred Cortot and Artur Schnabel He began performing on the continent of Europe in the 1920s and made his debuts in London in 1933 and New York in 1938 He escaped the Nazis in 1939 fled to Paris later settled in New York and eventually became a U S citizen 1 Firkusny had a broad repertoire and skillfully performed the works of Mozart Beethoven Schubert Schumann Chopin and Brahms as well as Mussorgsky and Debussy However he became known especially for his performances of the Czech composers Bedrich Smetana Antonin Dvorak Janacek and Bohuslav Martinu who wrote a number of works for him Firkusny championed Dvorak s only piano concerto which he played with many different conductors and orchestras around the world and also recorded several times Originally he performed the revised version made by his teacher Kurz and even arranged it further yet in the end he came back to the original Dvorak score Firkusny was also a devoted chamber player and among his most prominent partners were cellists Pierre Fournier Gregor Piatigorsky Janos Starker and Lynn Harrell violinists Nathan Milstein and Erika Morini violist William Primrose and the Juilliard String Quartet He also gave many first performances of contemporary composers not only Czech such as by his friends Martinu and Vitezslava Kapralova but also Howard Hanson Gian Carlo Menotti Samuel Barber and Alberto Ginastera Firkusny taught at the Juilliard School in New York and in Aspen Colorado as well as in the Berkshire Music Centre in Tanglewood Among his students were Yefim Bronfman Eduardus Halim Alan Weiss Sara Davis Buechner Carlisle Floyd Kathryn Selby Avner Arad June de Toth Richard Cionco Robin McCabe Anya Laurence Natasa Veljkovic and Carlo Grante After the fall of the communist government in his homeland the Velvet Revolution of 1989 Firkusny returned to Czechoslovakia to perform for the first time after more than 40 years of absence This was acclaimed as one of the major events of his festival along with the return of his compatriot and friend the conductor Rafael Kubelik Firkusny retained his remarkable talents well into his later years and for example played a full Dvorak Janacek Brahms Beethoven sonata recital in Prague on 18 May 1992 together with the violinist Josef Suk the namesake and grandson of his teacher and great grandson of Dvorak He played only two times at the Prague Spring International Music Festival The first time was in 1946 when he performed Dvorak s piano concerto and in 1990 he played the second piano concerto of Martinu Firkusny won praise from his famous colleague Vladimir Horowitz who once exclaimed Rudolf Firkusny can play Schubert that s for sure I heard him on the radio this afternoon playing the three Klavierstucke Beautiful 2 And the noted piano teacher and critic David Dubal called Firkusny the preeminent Czech pianist of the twentieth century 3 In 1990 he received an honorary doctorate from Charles University in Prague and the order of T G Masaryk from President Vaclav Havel Later in 1993 he received other honorary doctorates from Masaryk University in Brno and from Janacek Academy of Music and Performing Arts Firkusny died in Staatsburg New York in 1994 4 He was survived by a son Igor Firkusny and a daughter Veronique Firkusny Callegari a Barnard College graduate and award winning translator 5 6 In 2007 his ashes and those of his wife Tatiana Nevolova Firkusny were reburied together in an honorary place at the Central Cemetery in Brno close to his first teacher Janacek and directly next to the grave of Czech composer Jan Novak In 2012 coinciding with the 100th anniversary of his birth there was a large festival held by Brno s Janacek Academy of Music and Performing Arts to commemorate the centennial featuring many of his former alumni from the Juilliard School In 2013 the Prague Spring Festival established the Rudolf Firkusny Piano Festival held in Prague His student Carlisle Floyd s only piano sonata was written for Firkusny in the 1950s Firkusny performed it once at a Carnegie Hall recital It then languished until being taken up in 2009 by the 74 year old Daniell Revenaugh who studied it with the composer and made its first recording 7 Discography selection editBeethoven Sonatas No 8 in C minor Op 13 Pathetique No 14 in C sharp minor Op 27 Moonlight No 21 in C major Op 53 Waldstein No 30 in E Op 109 EMI Beethoven Concerto No 3 in C minor Op 37 with the New York Philharmonic Guido Cantelli AS Disc Beethoven Concerto No 5 in E flat major Op 73 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra William Steinberg Decca Beethoven Sonata No 3 in E flat major Op 12 for violin and piano Mozart Sonata in C major K 296 for violin and piano with Erica Morini violin Decca Beethoven Sonata No 8 in G major Op 30 for violin and piano Benda Sonata No 9 Vox Brahms Sonatas No 1 in F minor Op 120 for viola and piano No 2 in E flat Op 120 for viola and piano with William Primrose viola EMI Brahms Concerto No 1 in D minor with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra William Steinberg EMI Brahms Firkusny plays Brahms EMI Brahms Sonata No 3 in D minor Op 108 for violin and piano with Erica Morini violin Decca Brahms Cello Sonatas op 38 amp 99 with Pierre Fournier cello Deutsche Grammophon Chopin Sonata No 3 in B minor Op 58 Nocturne in E flat Polonaise in C minor Scherzo in B flat minor Barcarolle Waltz in C sharp minor Nocturne in D flat Grande valse brillante EMI Debussy by Firkusny Capitol Debussy Estampes Sugano Dussek Sonata No 28 in F minor Op 77 L Invocation Vox Dvorak Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor Op 33 with the Czech Philharmonic Rafael Kubelik Multisonic Dvorak Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor Op 33 with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra Laszlo Somogyi Westminster Dvorak Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor Op 33 with the Czech Philharmonic Vaclav Neumann RCA Dvorak Piano Quartets Opp 23 31 and 87 Bagatelles Op 47 with the Juilliard String Quartet CBS Dvorak Piano Quintets with the Ridge Quartet RCA Dvorak Dvorak in Prague a Celebration with Yo Yo Ma Itzhak Perlman Frederica von Stade the Prague Philharmonic Chorus the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa Sony Franck Symphonic Variations with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Claus Peter Flor RCA Haydn Sonatas for piano Nos 33 and 59 BBC Legends Janacek Concertino for piano 2 violins clarinet bassoon a French horn Capriccio forpiano and wind ensemble with the Czech Philharmonic Vaclav Neumann Supraphon Janacek Complete Works for Piano with the Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra Rafael Kubelik Deutsche Grammophon Martinu Piano Concerto No 2 with the Czech Philharmonic Jiri Belohlavek Supraphon Martinu Piano Works RCA Martinu Piano Concertos Nos 2 3 4 with the Czech Philharmonic Libor Pesek RCA Martinu Cello Sonatas 1 2 and 3 with the Hungarian born cellist Janos Starker RCA at BMG Studio New York 1990 Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No 1 in G minor with the Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra Louis Froment Vox Mozart Fantasia in C minor K 475 Sonata in C minor K 396 Columbia Mozart Piano Concertos K 271 K 451 K 456 K 466 K 491 K 503 with the SWF Sinfonie Orchester Baden Baden Ernest Bour Intercord Mozart Piano Concerto K 466 with the Kolner Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Gunter Wand Hanssler Mozart Concerto for Two Pianos in E flat K 365 sonatas for four hands and two pianos with Alan Weiss Vox Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft Ravel 3 piano pieces Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft Schubert Impromptus Opp 90 142 Philips Schubert Drei Klavierstucke D 946 BBC Legends Schubert Sonata in B flat Major D 960 BBC Legends Schumann Piano Concerto in A Minor Op 54 with the Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra Louis Froment Vox Schumann Davidsbundlertanze Symphonic Etudes Kinderszenen EMI Smetana Czech Dances EMI Smetana Fantasy in C major Op 17 Trio in G minor with Kaufmann Van den Burg Columbia Tomasek Eclogue Vox Vorisek Impromptu No 4 Op 7 Vox Videography editDvorak in Prague A Celebration 1993 Kultur DVD D4211 2007See also editLeos FirkusnyNotes edit Whitney Craig R Rudolf Firkusny Once Again Plays In Czechoslovakia The New York Times May 29 1990 Dubal David Evenings with Horowitz A Personal Portrait Amadeus Press 1991 p 101 Dubal David The Art of the Piano A Harvest Book 1995 p 80 Oestreich James R July 20 1994 Rudolf Firkusny an Elegant and Patrician Pianist Is Dead at 82 The New York Times Remembering Rudolf Firkusny The Juilliard School 2012 06 20 Retrieved 2020 11 15 Nineteen PEN Translates awards go to titles from fifteen countries and thirteen languages English Pen Retrieved 2020 11 15 Tabitha Yang September October 2009 The Restoration of Carlisle Floyd Tallahassee MagazineReferences editBeith Richard Melville Mason Graham Rudolf Firkusny Essex The Dvorak Society 1999 ISBN 0 9532769 0 2 Dubal David Reflections from Keyboard The World of the Concert Pianist New York Summit Books 1984 ISBN 0 671 49240 3 Mach Elyse Great Contemporary Pianists Speak for Themselves New York Dover Publications 1991 ISBN 0 486 26695 8 Marcus Adele Great Pianists Speak Neptune New Jersey Paganiana Publications 1979 ISBN 0 87666 617 9 Noyle Linda J Pianists on Playing Maryland The Scarecrow Press 1987 reprint 2000 ISBN 0 8108 3889 3 Schonberg Harold C The Great Pianists New York Simon and Schuster 1987 1963 ISBN 0 671 64200 6 Safarik Jiri Rudolf Firkusny Brno Universitas Masarykiana 1994 ISBN 80 85834 10 3 Vrkocova Ludmila Slovnicek hudebnich osobnosti 1999 ISBN 80 901611 5 4External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rudolf Firkusny Rudolf Firkusny biography Rudolf Firkusny article Rudolf Firkusny article Rudolf Firkusny 100th Celebration 2012 at JAMU Rudolf Firkusny Piano Festival Zakladni umelecka skola Rudolfa Firkusneho NapajedlaInterviews edit Rudolf Firkusny interview by Bruce Duffie November 2 1990 David Dubal interview of Rudolf Firkusny WNCN FM 16 Dec 1983 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rudolf Firkusny amp oldid 1188211418, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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