When the Hungarian pianist Tamás Vásáry died last week, I had too many other obligations to honor him properly.
Vásáry was a child prodigy who entered the Debrecen Conservatory at the age of 6. At 10, he became a student of Ernő Dohnányi. He was personally supervised by Zoltán Kodály at the Franz Liszt Academy. He graduated in 1953. In 1956, the year of the Hungarian Uprising, Vásáry fled to Switzerland. Later, he made his home in London.
In the U.K., he diversified. With Iván Fischer, he shared the title of joint principal conductor of the Northern Sinfonia from 1972 to 1982. He was principal conductor of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta from 1989 to 1997. Beginning in 1993, he also served as principal conductor of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
As a pianist, he toured widely. His international fame was bolstered by a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
I remember in the 1970s and ’80s, Vásáry’s early recordings were already being reissued at budget price, making them very affordable. It was the heyday of soft-focus, Elvira Madigan-type cover art. His performances were further disseminated on grab-and-go cassettes.
Chopin and Liszt were always central to his repertoire.
Performing Debussy, Chopin, and Liszt on the French television series “Les grands interprètes”
At the age of 80, playing the last movement of Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3
An interview from 2021
https://press.agency/our-existence-in-this-world-is-only-a-small-part-of-our-lives/
Vásáry died on February 5 at the age of 93. R.I.P.
