Tamás Vásáry

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Tamás Vásáry (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈtɒmaːʃ ˈvaːʃaːri]; born 11 August 1933) is a Hungarian concert pianist and conductor.

Biography and career

Vásáry was born in

, a leading figure of musical life in Hungary, who made a unique exception by offering to accept the gifted youth as a pupil in spite of his age. Vásáry studied only a short time under his tutelage, however, as Dohnányi soon left Hungary.

He also studied with József Gát and Lajos Hernádi at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, and was later an assistant there to Zoltán Kodály. Aged 14, he won first prize in the Franz Liszt competition at the Academy of Music in Budapest, in 1947. He received an honorable mention at the V International Chopin Piano Competition in 1955. He left Hungary in 1956, and settled in Switzerland. He made his débuts in the major cities of the West in 1960-61. He has subsequently resided in London. He made many recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, particularly of the Romantic repertoire, especially Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

As a conductor, Vásáry served as joint artistic director of the

. He has guest conducted many of the principal British orchestras as well as appearing regularly in the United States and elsewhere as pianist and conductor.

Recordings

Vásáry has recorded under six different labels:

. He has recorded over 20 albums of the music of Liszt, Chopin, Brahms, Debussy, Rachmaninoff and Mozart with Deutsche Grammophon. In 1991, his recording of works by Liszt released by the Academy of Sound and Vision won the Grand Prize in Hungary. His recording of Dohnányi's violin concerto released by Hungaroton won the Midem Prize.

References

Cultural offices
Preceded by Christopher Seaman	Artistic Director, Northern Sinfonia 1979–1982 (with Iván Fischer )	Succeeded by Richard Hickox
Preceded by Roger Norrington	Principal Conductor, Bournemouth Sinfonietta 1989–1997	Succeeded by Alexander Polianichko