Rudolf Firkusny

Rudolf Firkusny (Czech Rudolf Firkušný, IPA2|ˈrʊdolf ˈfɪrkʊʃni:) (11 February 1912-19 July 1994) was a Czech-American pianist with an elegant style.

Life

Born in Moravian 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 US citizen.

Firkušný was one of the great concert pianists of the 20th century. He had a broad repertoire and performed with skill the works of Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms. 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. He recorded the complete piano works of Janáček and championed Dvořák's only piano concerto. He was also a devoted chamber player and among his most prominent partners figure cellists Pierre Fournier and Janos Starker, violinists Nathan Milstein and Erika Morini, violist William Primrose or the Julliard String Quartet.

Firkusny taught at the Juilliard School in New York, and in Aspen, Colorado. After the fall of the communist regime in his homeland (the "Velvet Revolution" of 1989), Firkusny returned to Czechoslovakia to perform for the first time after more than 40 years away. 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 grandson of his teacher by the same name. 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 second piano concerto by Bohuslav Martinů. He died in Staatsbourg, New York in 1994. Along with Ivan Moravec and Antonín Kubálek, Firkušný stands in the front row of the Czech masters of the piano.

Discography selection

* Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonatas No. 8 in C minor, op. 13 „Pathetique“; No. 14 in C sharp minor, op. 27 „Moonlight“. Capitol
* Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto No. 3 in C minor, op. 37. New York Philharmonic, Guido Cantelli. AS Disc
* Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, op.73. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, William Steinberg. Capitol, Decca
* Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 3 in E flat major, op. 12, for violino and piano; Mozart: Sonata in C major K 296 for violino and piano. Erica Morini (violino), Rudolf Firkušný (piano). Decca
* Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 8 in G major, op. 30, for violino and piano;
* Jiří Antonín Benda: Sonata No. 9 (Dusík, Voříšek, Tomášek). VOX Candide
* Johannes Brahms: 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
* Johannes Brahms: Firkušný plays Brahms. Capitol
* Johannes Brahms: Sonata No. 3 in D minor, op. 108, for violino and piano. Erica Morini (violino), Rudolf Firkušný (piano). Decca
* Claude Debussy by Firkušný. Capitol
* Claude Debussy: Estampes. Sugano Disc 2002.
* Antonín Dvořák: Koncert pro klavír a orchestr g-moll, op. 33. Czech Philharmonic, Rafael Kubelík. Multisonic.
* Antonín Dvořák: Piano Quartets, op. 23 31, and 87, Bagatelles, op. 47. Juilliard Quartet, CBS
* Fryderyk Chopin: Sonata No. 3 in B minor, op. 58., Nocturno in E flat, Polonaise in C minor, Scherzo in B flat minor, Barcarolle, Waltz in C sharp minor, Nocturno in D flat, Grande valse brillante. Capitol
* Leoš Janáček: Concertino for piano, 2 violins, clarinet, bassoon a french horn; Capriccio forpiano and wind ensemble. Czech Philharmonic, Václav Neumann. Supraphon, (CD).
* Leoš Janáček: Complete Works for Piano. Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelík
* Bohuslav Martinů: Piano Concerto No. 2. Czech Philharmonic, Jiří Bělohlávek. Supraphon 1990).
* Bohuslav Martinů: Piano Works. BMG R32C-1176.
* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Fantasia in C minor K. 475; Sonata in C minor K. 396. Columbia ML 4356.
* Modest Mussorgsky: Pictures at an exhibition; Deutsche Gramophon Gesellschaft
* Maurice Ravel: 3 piano pieces. Deutsche Gramophon Gesellschaft
* Franz Schubert: Impromptus, op. 90, 142. Columbia
* Bedřich Smetana: Czech Dances. Capitol P 8372.
* Bedřich Smetana: Fantasie in C major, op. 17, Trio G moll. Firkušný - Kaufmann Van den Burg. Columbia
* Jan Václav Tomášek: Eclogue. VOX Candide
* Jan Václav Voříšek: Impromtu No. 4, op. 7. VOX Candide

References

Vrkočová, Ludmila: "Slovníček hudebních osobností". 1999. ISBN 80-901611-5-4

External links

*Biography: [http://www.angelfire.com/biz/musiclassical/rfirkusny.html]
*Articles: [http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/durer/23/napajedla/nobitrf.html]
* [http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=1305]