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By Ben Mattison
14 Dec 2005
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| György Sándor and Béla Bartók |
Pianist György Sándor, a leading 20th-century pianist and an authority on Bartók, died on December 9, according to the Juilliard School, where he taught. The cause was congestive heart failure. He was 93.
Born in Budapest, Sándor studied at the Liszt Academy with both Belá Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. He remained friends with Bartók for the rest of the composer's life and, according to Juilliard, was one of only ten people at his funeral.
Sándor moved to the United States in 1939, and made his Carnegie Hall debut the same year.
Along with Kodály and Prokofiev, the works of Bartók were at the heart of his huge repertoire. He gave the premieres of Bartók's Third Piano Concerto, of the piano versions of the composer's Concerto for Orchestra and Dance Suite, and of his own transcription of his Solo Violin Sonata.
His many recordings included music of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt, de Falla, and Debussy, as well as the complete piano works of Prokofiev and Kodály. In 1965, he won the Grand Prix du Disque for a complete recording of Bartók's piano music.
Sándor taught at Southern Methodist University from 1956 to 1961; at the University of Michigan, where he was director of piano studies, from 1961 to 1981; and at Juilliard from 1982 until his death. He gave master classes at the Paris Conservatoire, Jerusalem Music Centre, Holland Music Sessions, and Mozarteum Salzburg. His students included Malcolm Bisson, Barbara Nissman, and Hélčne Grimaud.
According to Juilliard, he judged a piano competition in Geneva three weeks ago, and taught at home until days before his death.
He was the author of On Piano Playing, which was translated into Italian, Chinese, and Polish.
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