Dénes Kovács

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Dénes Kovács
Kovacs Denes fortepan 138818.jpg
Kovács in 1971
Born18 April 1930 (1930-04-18)
Vác, Hungary
Died11 or 14 February 2005 (2005-02-15) (aged 74)
Alma materFodor Music School
Franz Liszt Academy of Music
Occupation(s)Classical violinist
academic teacher
Awards
  • The Liszt Prize (1954 or 1955 and 1958)
  • The Kossuth Prize (1963)
  • The Order of Labour (gold) (1974)
  • The Béla Bartók–Ditta Pásztory Prize (1989 and 2000)
  • The title of "Eminent Artist" (1970)

Dénes Kovács (18 April 1930 – 11 [1] or 14 [2] February 2005) was a Hungarian classical violinist and academic teacher, described as "pre-eminent among Hungarian violinists". [1] He won the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition in 1955. In his career as a soloist and recording artist, he premiered and recorded the works of 20th-century Hungarian composers, and was also noted for his recordings of Bartók and Beethoven. From 1967 to 1980, he headed the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary's principal music college. He received many national awards including the Kossuth Prize (1963).

Contents

Early life and education

Kovács was born in 1930 in Vác, Hungary. [1] [2] He attended Fodor Music School, where he was taught by Dezső Rados, [2] and in 1944 went to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, where he was a pupil of Ede Zathureczky, receiving his diploma in 1950 or 1951. [1] [2] His military service was spent playing in the orchestra of the army's Central Arts Ensemble (1950–51). [2]

Career

In 1951 Kovács joined the Budapest Opera as their first violin and leader, a position he held until 1960. [1] [2] He took third prize in the violin competition of the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in East Berlin in 1951, [2] and in 1955, he won the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition in London, with performances of the Brahms Violin Concerto and Bach's Partita in D minor. [1] [2] [3] From 1963 he was a soloist with the National Philharmonic. [2] He performed within Hungary, [2] across Europe, in China [1] and the United States. [4] Shortly after winning the Carl Flesch competition he participated in a Bartók memorial concert in London, in which he was described by Henry Raynor as playing with "aplomb". [5] His regular duo partner was the pianist Mihály Bächer. [1] His violin was a Guarneri del Gesù dating from 1742. [1]

His playing is described in his Grove 's profile as having a "crystalline tone and sense of style". [1] Kovács' repertoire stretched from Baroque to mid-20th century composers such as Bartók. [1] [2] Described in Grove's as "pre-eminent among Hungarian violinists", [1] Kovács premiered several works by 20th-century Hungarian composers, and he also recorded works by Gyula Dávid, Frigyes Hidas, Pál Kadosa, András Mihály and István Sárközy. His other notable recordings include Beethoven's complete string trios and sonatas for violin and piano, [2] and contributions to the complete Bartók edition for Hungaroton. [1] [2]

Jim Samson, reviewing his recording of Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2 and Rhapsodies No. 1 and No. 2 with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ervin Lukacs, describes both performances as "distinguished", especially the "cogent, well-shaped performance" of the concerto; however, he characterises the first movement as "uncomfortably fast", preferring Szerying's version. Samson criticises Kovács' interpretation of the rhapsodies as "rather too 'straight', lacking the discreet touches of rubato and telling variations in tone colour" of an earlier recording by André Gertler. [6] Antoine Goléa, in a review of the complete Bartók set, describes two discs by Kovács as "essential" ("indispensables"): Violin Concerto No. 2 (reviewed by Samson) and the Sonata for Solo Violin. [7] The Haydn expert H. C. Robbins Landon, in a review of a recording of Haydn's six sonatas for violin and viola with Géza Németh, praises the "careful and dedicated performances". [8]

In 1957, Kovács started to work at the Liszt Academy, where he was head of department (1959) and professor (1964), before becoming the academy's acting director in around 1967, succeeding Ferenc Szabó. He continued to direct the academy as rector from 1971, after it was recognised as a university. In 1980, he stepped down as rector, remaining head of the string department. [1] [2] [9] The Liszt Academy is Budapest's major college of music [9] and under Kovác' directorship was regarded as the highest-status music institution in Hungary. [4] During his time in charge, Kovács reorganised departments, giving autonomy to the chamber music and percussion departments, and inaugurated several prizes and competitions. [2] In a 1972 publication, he was one of several academics to criticise the Kodály method, universally used to teach music in Hungary at that date, considering that the drilling of solmization did not impart artistic understanding – "Learning the alphabet does not create a desire for reading". [4] From 1990, he conducted masterclasses at the Saint Stephen Specialist Music School. [2]

He was honoured with several national awards in Hungary, including the Liszt Prize (1954 or 1955 and 1958), the Kossuth Prize (1963), the Order of Labour (gold) (1974) and the Béla Bartók–Ditta Pásztory Prize (1989 and 2000), and was given the title of "Eminent Artist" (1970). [1] [2]

Kovács died in Budapest in 2005. [1] [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">István Kertész (conductor)</span> Hungarian orchestral and operatic conductor

István Kertész was an internationally acclaimed Hungarian orchestral and operatic conductor who, throughout his brief career led many of the world's great orchestras, including the Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Detroit, San Francisco and Minnesota Orchestras in the United States, as well as the London Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, and L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. His orchestral repertoire numbered over 450 works from all periods, and was matched by a repertoire of some sixty operas ranging from Mozart, Verdi, Puccini and Wagner to the more contemporary Prokofiev, Bartók, Britten, Kodály, Poulenc and Janáček. Kertész was part of a musical tradition that produced fellow Hungarian conductors Fritz Reiner, Antal Doráti, János Ferencsik, Eugene Ormandy, George Szell, János Fürst, Ferenc Fricsay, and Georg Solti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernst von Dohnányi</span> Hungarian composer and pianist, 1877–1960

Ernst von Dohnányi was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor. He used a German form of his name on most published compositions.

André Gertler was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (1940–1977), Professor at the Cologne Academy of Music (1954–1957), Professor at the College of Music in Hannover (1964), founder and leader of the Gertler Quartet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibor Serly</span> Hungarian musician

Tibor Serly was a Hungarian violist, violinist, and composer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tibor Varga (violinist)</span> Musical artist

Tibor Varga was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, and world renowned music teacher who developed pedagogic methods for teaching string music. He was a founding member of the string department in the Detmold music conservatory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">János Sebestyén</span>

János Sebestyén was a Hungarian organist, harpsichordist, pianist and journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">András Ligeti</span> Hungarian violinist and conductor (1953–2021)

András Ligeti was a Hungarian classical violinist and conductor who worked internationally. He was chief conductor of the Hungarian State Opera House until 1985, and chief conductor to the Budapest Symphony Orchestra from 1989 to 1993. He recorded with a focus on Hungarian music and contemporary music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gyula Dávid</span> Hungarian violist and composer (1913–1977)

Gyula Dávid was a Hungarian violist and composer.

Thomas Rajna was a British pianist and composer of Hungarian birth. He had been domiciled in Cape Town in South Africa since 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gergely Bogányi</span> Hungarian musician

Gergely Bogányi is a Hungarian pianist. Coming from a musical family, Bogányi is one of the youngest pianists to have won the Kossuth Prize, becoming one of the leading pianists of his generation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dezső Ránki</span> Hungarian virtuoso concert pianist (born 1951)

Dezső Ránki is a Hungarian virtuoso concert pianist with a broad repertoire and a significant discography of solo, duo and concerto works.

Kossuth, Sz. 21, BB. 31, DD. 75a is a symphonic poem composed by Béla Bartók inspired by the Hungarian politician Lajos Kossuth.

The Tátrai Quartet was a Hungarian classical string quartet founded in 1946. For the half-century after World War II it was one of the foremost string quartets in Hungary, specializing in Haydn and Bartók, whose complete quartets it recorded for Hungaroton, Mozart and Beethoven as well, and were also responsible for first performances of works by certain Hungarian composers.

Kristóf Baráti is a Hungarian classical violinist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pál Lukács</span> Hungarian violinist and music pedagogue (1919–1981)

Pál Lukács was a Hungarian viola virtuoso, concert and recording artist, and music educator.

András Keller is a Hungarian violinist and a founder of the Keller Quartet. He also works as a director and conductor of Concerto Budapest.

Tibor Ney was a Hungarian violinist and music teacher.

Vilmos Tátrai was a Hungarian classical violinist and the founder of the Tátrai Quartet.

József Soproni was a Hungarian composer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Péter P. Várnai (2001), "Kovács, Dénes", Grove Music Online , Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.15436
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 K. F., Dénes Kovács, Franz Liszt Academy of Music , retrieved 23 January 2021
  3. "[Untitled]", The Musical Times , 96: 651, 1955, JSTOR   937821
  4. 1 2 3 Michael Palotai (1978), "Has Hungary Outgrown Kodály?", Music Educators Journal , 64 (6): 40–45, doi:10.2307/3395394, JSTOR   3395394, S2CID   145671316
  5. Henry Raynor (1956), "London Music: Hindemith, Walton, Bartók, Holst", The Musical Times , 97: 34–38, doi:10.2307/938557, JSTOR   938557
  6. Jim Samson (1973), "Review: Bartok: Violin Concerto No. 2; Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2 by Dénes Kovàcs, Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Ervin Lukacs, Janos Ferencsik, Bartok; Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle, Op. 11 by György Melis, Katalin Kasza, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Janos Ferencsik, Bartok; Bartok: Kossuth; Scherzo (From Symphony in E Flat); Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 2 by Budapest Symphony Orchestra, György Lehel, Erzsébet Tusa, Bartok; Bartok: Piano Quintet by Csilla Szabó, Tatrai Quartet, Bartok", Tempo : 30–32, JSTOR   942981
  7. Antoine Goléa (1975), "Les Disques", La Nouvelle Revue des Deux Mondes (March): 726–728, JSTOR   44196565
  8. H. C. Robbins Landon (1982), "Haydn on Record 2: Concertos and Other Instrumental Music", Early Music , 10: 505–512, doi:10.1093/earlyj/10.4.505, JSTOR   3126939
  9. 1 2 Dezső Legány (2001), "Budapest", Grove Music Online , Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.04250

Further reading