Rudolf Firkusny
Encyclopedia
Rudolf Firkušný (ˈrudolf ˈfɪrkuʃniː; 11 February 191219 July 1994) was a Czech
-born, American classical pianist
.
n Napajedla
, Firkušný started his musical studies with the composers Leoš Janáček
and Josef Suk
, and the pianist Vilém Kurz
. Later he studied with 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 became a U.S. citizen.
Firkušný had a broad repertoire and performed with skill the works of Mozart
, Beethoven
, Chopin
and Brahms
as well as Debussy
and Mussorgsky
. However, he became known especially for his performances of the Czech composers Bedřich Smetana
, Antonín Dvořák
, Leoš Janáček, and Bohuslav Martinů
(who wrote a number of works for him), as well as recording the complete piano works of Janáček.
Firkušný championed Dvořák's only piano concerto
, which he played with many different conductors and orchestras around the world. 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
or 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 like his friends Bohuslav Martinů or Vítězslava Kaprálová
, but also of 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, Robin McCabe, Anya Laurence, Natasa Veljkovic
and Carlo Grante. After the fall of the communist regime 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, as well as return of his compatriot and friend Rafael Kubelík
. He 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, first in 1946 performed Dvořák's piano concerto
, and in 1990 he played the second piano concerto of Bohuslav Martinů.
He died in Staatsburg, New York
in 1994. In 2007 his and his wife's ashes were reburied together in an honorary place at the Central Cemetery in Brno
, close to his first teacher Leoš Janáček.
His student Carlisle Floyd wrote his only Piano Sonata in the 1950s, for Firkušný, who 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.
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
-born, American classical pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
.
Life
Born in MoraviaMoravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
n Napajedla
Napajedla
Napajedla is a town in the Zlín Region, Czech Republic. It has about 7,500 inhabitants.- Born there :* Countess Sofija Jelačić , wife of the Croatian ban and general Josip Jelačić von Bužim...
, Firkušný started his musical studies with the composers Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janácek
Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
and Josef Suk
Josef Suk (composer)
Josef Suk was a Czech composer and violinist.- Life :Suk was born in Křečovice. He studied at Prague Conservatory from 1885 to 1892, where he was a pupil of Antonín Dvořák and Antonín Bennewitz. In 1898, he married Dvořák's eldest daughter, Otilie Dvořáková , affectionately known as Otilka...
, and the pianist Vilém Kurz
Vilém Kurz
Vilém Kurz was a Czech pianist and piano teacher, a professor at the State Conservatory in Lwów and Vienna, and Prague Conservatory...
. Later he studied with Alfred Cortot
Alfred Cortot
Alfred Denis Cortot was a Franco-Swiss pianist and conductor. He is one of the most renowned 20th-century classical musicians, especially valued for his poetic insight in Romantic period piano works, particularly those of Chopin and Schumann.-Early life and education:Born in Nyon, Vaud, in the...
and Artur Schnabel
Artur Schnabel
Artur Schnabel was an Austrian classical pianist, who also composed and taught. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura...
. 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
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
in 1939, fled to Paris, later settled in New York and became a U.S. citizen.
Firkušný had a broad repertoire and performed with skill the works of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
and Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
as well as Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
and Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
. However, he became known especially for his performances of the Czech composers Bedřich Smetana
Bedrich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
, Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, Leoš Janáček, and Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Martinu
Bohuslav Martinů was a prolific Czech composer of modern classical music. He was of Czech and Rumanian ancestry. Martinů wrote six symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. Martinů became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic...
(who wrote a number of works for him), as well as recording the complete piano works of Janáček.
Firkušný championed Dvořák's only piano concerto
Piano Concerto (Dvorák)
The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor, Op.33 was the first of three concertos that Antonín Dvořák completed—it was followed by a violin concerto and then a cello concerto—and the piano concerto is probably the least known and least performed....
, which he played with many different conductors and orchestras around the world. 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
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
player, and among his most prominent partners were cellists Pierre Fournier
Pierre Fournier
Pierre Fournier was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists," on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound....
, Gregor Piatigorsky
Gregor Piatigorsky
Gregor Piatigorsky was a Russian-born American cellist.-Early life:...
, János Starker
János Starker
János Starker |Kingdom of Hungary]]) is a Hungarian-American cellist. Since 1958 he has taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he holds the title of Distinguished Professor.- Child prodigy :...
or Lynn Harrell
Lynn Harrell
Lynn Harrell is an American classical cellist.-Biography:Harrell was born in New York City of musician parents; his father was the baritone Mack Harrell and his mother, Marjorie Fulton, was a violinist. At the age of eight he decided to learn to play the cello. When Lynn was 12, his family moved...
, violinists Nathan Milstein
Nathan Milstein
Nathan Mironovich Milstein was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist.Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and for works from the Romantic period...
and Erika Morini
Erika Morini
Erika Morini was a Jewish Austrian violinist, born in Vienna.- Family and Life :She received her first instruction from her father, Oscar Morini Erika Morini (Vienna, January 5, 1904 - New York City, October 31, 1995) was a Jewish Austrian violinist, born in Vienna.- Family and Life :She received...
, violist William Primrose
William Primrose
William Primrose CBE was a Scottish violist and teacher.-Biography:Primrose was born in Glasgow and studied violin initially. In 1919 he moved to study at the then Guildhall School of Music in London. On the urging of the accompanist Ivor Newton, Primrose moved to Belgium to study under Eugène...
and the Juilliard String Quartet
Juilliard String Quartet
The Juilliard String Quartet is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York. The original members were violinists Robert Mann and Robert Koff, violist Raphael Hillyer, and cellist Arthur Winograd; Current members are Joseph Lin and Ronald Copes violinists,...
. He also gave many first performances of contemporary composers, not only Czech like his friends Bohuslav Martinů or Vítězslava Kaprálová
Vítezslava Kaprálová
Vítězslava Kaprálová was a Czech composer and conductor. Among her teachers were some of the best European composers and conductors of the time - Bohuslav Martinů, Václav Talich, and Charles Münch.-Life:She was a daughter of composer Václav Kaprál...
, but also of Howard Hanson
Howard Hanson
Howard Harold Hanson was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American classical music. As director for 40 years of the Eastman School of Music, he built a high-quality school and provided opportunities for commissioning and performing American music...
, Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
, Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
and Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Ginastera
Alberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...
.
Firkušný taught at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and in Aspen
Aspen
Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
as well as in the Berkshire Music Centre
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops designed to provide an intense training and networking experience...
in Tanglewood
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is an estate and music venue in Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It is the home of the annual summer Tanglewood Music Festival and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, and has been the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home since 1937. It was the venue of the Berkshire Festival.- History...
. Among his students were Yefim Bronfman
Yefim Bronfman
Yefim "Fima" Naumovich Bronfman is a Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist.-Biography:He was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, and emigrated to Israel at the age of 15...
, Eduardus Halim
Eduardus Halim
Eduardus Halim is an Indonesian-American pianist.Born in Bandung, Indonesia of Chinese parents, Halim made his public debut at the age of 11 playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. A student of Sascha Gorodnitzki and Rudolf Firkušný at the Juilliard School where he attended on full scholarship,...
, Alan Weiss, Sara Davis Buechner
Sara Davis Buechner
Sara Davis Buechner is an American concert pianist and educator. She has been an assistant professor of piano at the University of British Columbia since 2003, and was formerly a member of the faculties of Manhattan School of Music and New York University.Buechner received her bachelor's and...
, Carlisle Floyd
Carlisle Floyd
Carlisle Floyd is an American opera composer. The son of a Methodist minister, he based many of his works on themes from the South...
, Kathryn Selby
Kathryn Selby
Kathryn Selby is an Australian classical pianist. She is often known as Kathy Selby.She grew up in Sydney. She entered the Sydney Conservatorium of Music at the age of seven. She followed this with study with Béla Síki at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1976 she was awarded a...
, Avner Arad, June de Toth, Robin McCabe, Anya Laurence, Natasa Veljkovic
Natasa Veljkovic
Nataša Veljković is a Serbian pianist.She was trained under Arbo Valdma, Paul Badura-Skoda , Rudolf Firkusny and Harry Datyner...
and Carlo Grante. After the fall of the communist regime in his homeland (the "Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
" of 1989), Firkušný returned to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
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, as well as return of his compatriot and friend Rafael Kubelík
Rafael Kubelík
Rafael Jeroným Kubelík was a Czech conductor and composer.-Early life:Kubelík was born in Býchory, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, today's Czech Republic. He was the sixth child of the Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelík, whom the younger Kubelík described as "a kind of god to me." His mother was a Hungarian...
. He retained his remarkable talents well into his later years and, for example, played a full Dvořák-Janáček-Brahms-Beethoven sonata recital in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
on 18 May 1992 together with the violinist Josef Suk
Josef Suk (violinist)
Josef Suk was a Czech violinist, violist, chamber musician and conductor, the grandson of Josef Suk, the composer and violinist, and great-grandson of Antonín Dvořák. In his home country he carried the title of National Artist....
(the namesake and grandson of his teacher, and great-grandson of Dvořák). He played only two times at the Prague Spring International Music Festival, first in 1946 performed Dvořák's piano concerto
Piano Concerto (Dvorák)
The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor, Op.33 was the first of three concertos that Antonín Dvořák completed—it was followed by a violin concerto and then a cello concerto—and the piano concerto is probably the least known and least performed....
, and in 1990 he played the second piano concerto of Bohuslav Martinů.
He died in Staatsburg, New York
Staatsburg, New York
Staatsburg is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 911 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined...
in 1994. In 2007 his and his wife's ashes were reburied together in an honorary place at the Central Cemetery in Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
, close to his first teacher Leoš Janáček.
His student Carlisle Floyd wrote his only Piano Sonata in the 1950s, for Firkušný, who performed it once, at a Carnegie Hall recital. It then languished until being taken up in 2009 by the 74-year old Daniell Revenaugh
Daniell Revenaugh
Daniell Revenaugh is an American classical pianist and conductor. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he made his debut at the age of 14 playing Beethoven's First Piano Concerto with the Louisville Orchestra....
, who studied it with the composer and made its first recording.
Discography selection
- BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
: Sonatas No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 "Pathetique"; No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 27 "Moonlight". Capitol - Beethoven: Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37. New York Philharmonic, Guido Cantelli. AS Disc
- Beethoven: Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg. Capitol, 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. Erica Morini (violino), Rudolf Firkušný (piano). Decca.
- Beethoven: Sonata No. 8 in G major, Op. 30, for violin and piano;
- BendaGeorg BendaJiří Antonín Benda, also Georg Anton Benda or J.A. Benda was a Czech kapellmeister, violinist and composer of the classical period.-Biography:...
: Sonata No. 9 (Dusík, Voříšek, Tomášek). VOX Candide. - BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
: Sonatas No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120, for viola and piano; No. 2 in E flat, Op. 120, for viola and piano. William Primrose (viola), Rudolf Firkušný (piano). Capitol. - Brahms: Concerto No. 1 in D minor. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steiberg. EMI.
- Brahms: Firkušný plays Brahms. Capitol.
- Brahms: Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108, for violin and piano. Erica Morini (violino), Rudolf Firkušný (piano). Decca.
- DebussyClaude DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
by Firkušný. Capitol. - Debussy: EstampesEstampesEstampes , L.100, is a composition for solo piano by Claude Debussy. It was finished in 1903.It consists of three movements:# Pagodes - approx. 6 minutes.# Soirée dans Grenade - approx. 5½ minutes....
. Sugano Disc 2002. - DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
: Concerto for piano and orchesta in G minor, Op. 33. Czech Philharmonic, Rafael KubelíkRafael KubelíkRafael Jeroným Kubelík was a Czech conductor and composer.-Early life:Kubelík was born in Býchory, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, today's Czech Republic. He was the sixth child of the Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelík, whom the younger Kubelík described as "a kind of god to me." His mother was a Hungarian...
. Multisonic. - Dvořák: Piano Quartets, Opp. 23 31, and 87, Bagatelles, Op. 47. Juilliard Quartet. CBS.
- Dvořák: Piano Quintets. Ridge Quartet. RCA.
- FranckCésar FranckCésar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
: Symphonic Variations. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Claus Peter Flor. RCA. - HaydnJoseph HaydnFranz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
: Sonatas for piano Nos. 33 and 59. BBC Legends. - ChopinFrédéric ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
: 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. Capitol. - JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
: ConcertinoConcertino (Janácek)Concertino for piano, two violins, viola, clarinet, french horn and bassoon is a composition by Czech composer Leoš Janáček.- Background :The composition was written in first months of 1925, but Janáček decided on its inception in the end of 1924. He was impressed by the skills of pianist Jan...
for piano, 2 violins, clarinet, bassoon a French horn; Capriccio forpiano and wind ensemble. Czech Philharmonic, Václav NeumannVáclav NeumannVáclav Neumann was a Czech conductor, violinist and viola player.Neumann was born in Prague where he studied at the Prague Conservatory, with Josef Micka , and with Pavel Dědeček and Metod Doležil . He co-founded, and played 1st violin in, the Smetana Quartet, before holding conducting posts in...
. SupraphonSupraphonSupraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, it is oriented mainly towards publishing classical music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.- History :...
, (CD). - Janáček: Complete Works for Piano. Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelík. Deutsche Grammophon.
- MartinůBohuslav MartinuBohuslav Martinů was a prolific Czech composer of modern classical music. He was of Czech and Rumanian ancestry. Martinů wrote six symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. Martinů became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic...
: Piano Concerto No. 2. Czech Philharmonic, Jiří BělohlávekJirí BelohlávekJiří Bělohlávek is a Czech conductor. His father was a barrister and judge. In his youth Bělohlávek studied cello with Miloš Sádlo and was later a graduate of the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague...
. Supraphon. - Martinů: Piano Works. BMG R32C-1176.
- Martinů: Piano Concertos Nos. 2, 3, 4. Libor Pešek, RCA.
- MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor. Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra, Louis Froment. Vox - MozartWolfgang Amadeus MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
: Fantasia in C minor K. 475; Sonata in C minor K. 396. Columbia ML 4356. - Mozart: Piano Concertos K. 271, K. 451, K. 456, K. 466, K. 491, K. 503. SWF Sinfonie-Orchester Baden-Baden, Ernest Bour. Intercord.
- MussorgskyModest MussorgskyModest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...
: Pictures at an ExhibitionPictures at an ExhibitionPictures at an Exhibition is a suite in ten movements composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.The suite is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists...
; Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. - RavelMaurice RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
: 3 piano pieces. Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. - SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
: Impromptus, Opp. 90, 142. Philips. - Schubert: Drei Klavierstucke, D. 946. BBC Legends.
- Schubert: Sonata in B flat Major, D. 960. BBC Legends.
- SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54. Luxembourg Radio Symphony Orchestra, Louis Froment. Vox - SmetanaBedrich SmetanaBedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
: Czech Dances. Capitol P 8372. - Smetana: Fantasy in C major, Op. 17, Trio in G minor. Firkušný - Kaufmann Van den Burg. Columbia.
- Tomášek: Eclogue. VOX Candide.
- VoříšekJan Václav VoríšekJan Václav Hugo Voříšek , was a Czech composer of classical music, pianist, and organist.-Life:...
: Impromptu No. 4, Op. 7. VOX Candide.
External links
- Rudolf Firkusny biography
- Rudolf Firkusny article
- Rudolf Firkusny article
- Rudolf Firkusny article
- Rudolf Firkusny article
- Rudolf Firkusny article
Interviews
- Rudolf Firkusny interview by Bruce Duffie, November 2, 1990