GÉZA ANDA CENTENARY

On the occasion of his 100th birthday several international radio stations and media outlets spoke about the Hungarian-Swiss pianist, who was born in Budapest on 19^th November 1921.

A piano marathon with Géza Anda laureates from 1979 to 2021 was organised by the Géza Anda-Foundation in the new Chipperfield-Extension of Kunsthaus Zürich. The last concert ended after midnight and therefore on 19^th November, Géza Anda’s 100^th birthday. This symbolic moment was taken up by Georges Pludermacher’s performance of Beethoven’s Diabelli-Variations. The renowned French pianist, winner of the very first Concours Géza Anda, originally studied this demanding work under the auspices of Géza Anda.

Apart from Georges Pludermacher, Konstanze Eickhorst, Heidrun Holtmann, Filippo Gamba, Sergey Koudriakov, Jinsang Lee, Claire Huangci, Julian Trevelyan and Giorgi Gigashvilitook part in this memorable event.

Admission was free, and the Collection Emil Bührle remained open throughout for a quiet stroll past its famous paintings.

In the Grand Hall of the Budapest Ferenc Liszt Academy – where Géza Anda had studied – a special Mozart gala concert in Anda’s honour took place as part of the kamara.hu festival on Saturday 20th November 2021. The soloists were Géza Anda Competition winners Anton Gerzenberg (2021) and Dénes Várjon (1991), who performed next to Izabella Simon. The programme consisted of four Mozart concertos accompanied by Concerto Budapest and András Keller. The other concertos that evening were played by Jonathan Biss and Alina Ibragimova.

Published by Wolke-Verlag in English and German, Wolfgang Rathert publishes a new book about Géza Anda.

This minutely researched and amply illustrated book contains sections about Géza Anda’s life, various aspects of his music, his discography and artistic heritage, the Géza Anda Piano Competition and a homage to his wife Hortense, written by Christian Schmidt-Banse.

At the time, Géza Anda was one of the rare exclusive artists of Deutsche Grammophon and created significant recordings for this famous label. On the eve of his 100^th birthday the German label publishes a box of 17 CDs with Géza Anda’s complete concerto and and solo studio recordings for DG. Included are Mozart’s entire piano concertos with Camerata Salzburg. For the first time in recording history, the soloist led the orchestra from his instrument, and the result is still seen as a reference.

Next to Géza Anda’s core repertoire the box contains his interpretations of, amongst others, Grieg’s Piano Concerto, Franck’s Symphonic Variations, Bartók’s Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra and the marvellous Beethoven Triple Concerto with Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Pierre Fournier, Géza Anda and Ferenc Fricsay.

The solo recordings are supplemented by a bonus CD containing music by Bach-Busoni, Scarlatti, Liszt-Busoni, Chopin, Schumann and Brahms. These pieces were restored from shellack records and many of them are available on CD for the very first time.

Between 1955 and 1969, Géza Anda frequently performed at the International Music Festival in Lucerne. Three live recordings made by Swiss Radio have survived and are published on CD for the first time: Bach’s Concerto for Two Pianos BWV 1061 from 1955 and Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto from 1965. In the Bach concerto, Clara Haskil and Herbert von Karajan were Anda’s partners; the Bartók was conducted by Ernest Ansermet, who on that occasion appeared in Lucerne for the last time. Moreover, this CD contains Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto, performed to an enthusiastic audience by Géza Anda and his favourite conducor Ferenc Fricsay.

Label Audite presents this important document, which fills a gap in the extensive Anda discography, in collaboration with the Géza Anda-Foundation, Swiss Radio and Television SRF, the Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute, Salzburg and Lucerne Festival.

The opening of the famous festival Piano-Extravaganza at the Sofia Philharmonic was devoted to Géza Anda’s 100^th birthday this year.

Apart from Julian Trevelyan, Krasimira Stoyanova, Valentina Lisitsa, Alexander Malofeev and Szymon Nehring adorned the festival’s roster.

Various events at the Budapest French Institute foreshadowed Géza Anda’s 100^th birthday on the evening of 24^thSeptember: the public screening of Richard Leacock and Rolf Liebermann’s historical film (1965) about Géza Anda during the renowned documentary film festival Budapesti Klasszikus Film Maratonon was followed by a live performance of Beethoven’s Sonata quasi una Fantasia in E-flat, Op. 27/1, played by Dénes Várjon, Concours Géza Anda winner from 1991. At the same time, posters created by French graphic designer Aimery Chaigne for the Géza Anda Centenary were exhibited in the foyer of the Institute.

Ernen in the mountainous Swiss canton of Wallis with its epithet “Musikdorf” hosts one of the country’s most renowned chamber music festivals. Hortense Anda-Bührle supported it for many years, and Géza Anda laureates perform there regularly. This year, as many as five of them played recitals during the Festival’s Klavier Kompakt section between 27^th and 29^th August. On the one hand, they dedicated their music to the 100^th birthday of Géza Anda. On the other hand, they payed great homage to Ruth Bossart, who coined the image of the Concours and took care of its laureates for 40 years before retiring one year ago.

In 2021 – a hundred years after Géza Anda was born – the 15th Concours Géza Anda was carried out as foreseen. In spite of strict regulations to avoid the spreading of the Covid-19 virus, the competition took place in Zurich and Winterthur safely and with great success. 36 participants travelled to Switzerland from all over the world in order to compete with one another.

In view of Géza Anda’s 100^th birthday the repertoire was changed in order to contain many of the works Anda performed most frequently and with greatest pleasure. The prize money was raised and new awards created. The new Liszt-Bartók Prize, for instance, was won by the Hungarian pianist Mihály Berecz.