Louis Kentner

Louis Kentner

Louis Kentner (July 19, 1905 – September 23, 1987) was a Hungarian, later British, pianist who excelled in the works of Chopin and Liszt, as well as the Hungarian repertoire.

He was born Lajos Kentner in Karwin in Austrian Silesia (present-day Karviná, Czech Republic), to Hungarian parents. He received his education as a musician at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest from 1911 to 1922, studying with Arnold Székely (piano), Hans Koessler and Zoltán Kodály (composition), and Leo Weiner (chamber music).

Kentner commenced his concert career at the age of 15. He was awarded 5th Prize at the 1932 International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw; and he won a Liszt prize in Budapest. He moved to England permanently in 1935. He gave radio broadcasts of the complete sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert, the complete Well-Tempered Clavier (Bach), and the complete "Années de Pèlerinage" (Liszt). He was President of the British Liszt Society for many years, until his death.

At the composer's request, he was the soloist at the Hungarian premiere of Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2, in Budapest in 1933, under Otto Klemperer; and the first European performance of the Concerto No. 3 (in London, under Sir Adrian Boult, 27 November 1946). He and Yehudi Menuhin gave the first performance of William Walton's Violin Sonata, at Zürich on 30 September 1949.

His playing was heard in Richard Addinsell's "Warsaw Concerto" from the soundtrack of the 1941 film "Dangerous Moonlight". However, his hands were not shown, and he preferred to be uncredited as he did not think that being associated with film music would help his career. When the piece achieved world-wide popularity, however, he was happy to acknowledge his involvement.

He was a member of many music competition juries. He also composed, his output including orchestral works, chamber music, piano pieces and songs.

External links

* [http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Namedrill?&name_id=19187&name_role=2 Classical recordings for Louis Kentner available at ArkivMusic.com]
* [http://www.naxos.com/artistinfo/Louis_Kentner_2026/2026.htm Biography] by Naxos Records


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • KENTNER, LOUIS — (Lajos Philip, 1905–1987), British pianist and composer of Hungarian birth. Born in Karwin, Kentner entered the Budapest Royal Academy of Music at the age of six. He studied piano under Szekely and leo weiner , and composition with Kodaly. After… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Annie Fischer — (* 5. Juli 1914 in Budapest; † 10. April 1995 in Budapest) war eine ungarische Pianistin jüdischer Abstammung, die dem Holocaust durch Flucht nach Schweden entging. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Literatur 3 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dangerous Moonlight — Directed by Brian Desmond Hurst Produced by William Sistrom Written by Terence Young (original story and screenplay) Rodney Ackland and Brian Desmo …   Wikipedia

  • International Chopin Piano Competition — Intermission during first round concert, October 2005 …   Wikipedia

  • Concours international de piano Frédéric-Chopin — Entracte durant la première étape éliminatoire du XVe Concours international de piano Frédéric Chopin (octobre 2005, Varsovie, Pologne). Le Concours international de piano Frédéric Chopin à Varsovie est l un des plus anciens et actuellement un… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of classical pianists — This is an alphabetized list of notable pianists who play or played classical music. For a list of recorded classical pianists see List of classical pianists (recorded). If you add a name to the list below and know that the pianist recorded,… …   Wikipedia

  • List of classical pianists (recorded) — This is a list of pianists of whom recordings survive who play or played classical music. Since the number of people who have played the piano is probably in the millions, most of whom are not notable, the list is confined to those who have left… …   Wikipedia

  • Yehudi Menuhin — from the film Stage Door Canteen, 1943 …   Wikipedia

  • William Walton — Sir William Turner Walton, OM (March 29, 1902 ndash;March 8, 1983) was a British composer and conductor.His style was influenced by the works of Stravinsky and Prokofiev as well as jazz music, and is characterized by rhythmic vitality,… …   Wikipedia

  • Manoel Theatre — The Manoel Theatre (Teatru Manoel, in Maltese) is reputed to be Europe s third oldest working theatre, and the oldest working theatre in the Commonwealth of Nations. Located on Old Theatre Street (Triq it Teatru l Antik) in Valletta, it is now… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”