- Gregor Benko
Gregor Benko (born August 4, 1944 Cleveland, Ohio) is an American writer, lecturer, record producer, and collector-historian whose primary focus is classical piano performance documented on recordings from (or having to do with) the
Romantic Era .He was the founder, along with
Albert Petrak of theInternational Piano Archives (initially named the International Piano Library but later changed due to state law). Benko attained notice in the 1960s and 1970s, when his work helped lay the groundwork for the "Romantic revival ," which continued on into the 21st century. Benko managed the non-profit institution for two decades, attracting Spanish virtuosaAlicia de Larrocha to act as the actual President of the corporation, and building an enormous collection of recordings, scores, memorabilia and associated matter concerning concert pianists. In 1977 Benko donated the collections to theUniversity of Maryland, College Park , where they formed the nucleus of theInternational Piano Archives at Maryland (IPAM ).Perhaps Benko's most hailed achievement to date is the in unearthing and publishing all known recordings of the Polish virtuoso
Josef Hofmann , as well as dozens of historic recordings by other "golden age" pianists. He is also credited with rediscovering and bringing back to public awareness the elderly and reclusive Hungarian piano virtuosoErvin Nyiregyhazi . The recordings that Benko produced, initially for the International Piano Archives, as well as new recordings he made with Nyiregyhazi that were issued byColumbia Records , were heatedly discussed for a time due to the pianist's enormous dynamic range and willful interpretive style. Well-regarded criticHarold C. Schonberg - also a devotee of Romantic pianism - called one of them "a divine madness." Benko had almost no formal education, but credits his close relationships with Schonberg andFrank Cooper , founder of theFestival of Neglected Romantic Music atButler University , as the most important professional associations in his life, and considers each a mentor.Benko's later career has included lecturing, articles, reviews, liner notes. He has been engaged for over thirty years in work on a comprehensive biography of the Polish virtuoso Josef Hofmann.
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