Jenő Jandó, the pianist who rose to international fame for his prolific efforts on behalf of the Naxos label, has died. Jandó leaves behind many sound-to-excellent recordings of works by Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, Chopin, Bartók, and others. When you saw Jandó’s name, you knew you could buy with confidence.

At its inception described as a super-budget label, Naxos was able to attract plenty of buyers looking to build or fill-out their classical music libraries at a fraction of the cost it would take to assemble a shelf full of identical repertoire from the majors. Many of the performers at the beginning were unknown musicians and ensembles from East-Central Europe.

The model met with some condescension at the start, as surely they couldn’t compete with costlier alternatives on the majors? Jandó was among those who rose to the challenge and helped sell the idea that just because an album was inexpensive didn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t good. And they only got better.

Jandó was a professor at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Like Glenn Gould, apparently, he had a habit of singing when he played. He was able to get around this by putting an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

He recorded over 60 albums for Naxos, as solo instrumentalist, concerto soloist, and collaborative chamber musician. Among these was a complete set of the Beethoven piano sonatas. He also recorded for the Hungaroton label.

Jenő Jandó was 71-years-old. Köszönöm, maestro, and R.I.P.

Jandó plays Beethoven

Jandó and traditional performers illuminate Bartók

Jandó rehearses Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37CXGOOef4g