Beethoven Sonata Op.109 1st Mov. Dohnanyi Rec.1960 Sunday, March 20, 2011

Erno Dohnanyi was born in what was then Hungary,in 1877. He was a pupil of Istvan Thoman and Eugen d'Albert,both of whom had studied with Liszt.At the age of 18,he composed his Piano Quintet of which Brahms commented,"I couldn't have done better myself." It was Brahms who arranged for its first performance in Vienna in 1895. Not long therafter (around 1900), Dohnanyi became considered to be the greatest Hungarian pianist and composer since Liszt. Pianists of such stature as Josef Hofmann,attended his recitals and many of his compositions found their way into recitals and orchestral concerts. Dohnanyi's love of the music of Mozart,Beethoven and Brahms, was evident in his ealiest recitals and concerts.While many other pianits were playing solon type music and showy operatic transcriptions at the turn of the 20th century, Dohnanyi was playing Beethoven Sonatas and Mozart Concerto's. His 1928 recording of the Mozart Concerto in G K453, was for many years the only recorded version available. Dohnanyi conducted the orchestra from the piano. That was 80 years ago. Needless to say, he was highly criticized for doing so. However,unlike Schnabel, Dohnanayi also admired the music of composers such as Johann Strauss (as did Brahms) and Leo Delibes whose music he transcribed to play as bon bons to end his recitals. As a composer,Dohnanyi was a Romantic who had a great respect for classical form. He was very much influenced by the music of Johannes Brahms who, as mentioned earlier ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp7-ZkFIUI8&hl=en