Piano Prodigy

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31672, 7 May 1968, Page 21

Piano Prodigy

Tamas Vasary, who has made a habit of winning major awards in international piano competitions, began his musical studies at the age of six. Two years later he made his orchestral debut, playing a Mozart concerto. Soon afterwards he entered the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, where, at the age of 14, he won the Franz Liszt prize, which is open to pianists of all ages. He gained other notable successes in Warsaw and Paris in 1955, in Brussels in 1956 and in Rio de Janeiro in 1957. In 1960 he received the Bach and Paderewski Medals in London; and his recordings have been among the “Critic’s Choice” in London in 1958, 1960 and 1964. At the age of 20, after graduating from the Budapest Academy of Music, he returned there as a teacher. Zoltan Kolady gave him half of his class and even bought him a new Steinway as a gift. Annie Fischer, the Hungarian pianist who last month completed a successful tour of New Zealand, was a teacher and colleague of Vasary at the academy.

Before leaving Hungary in 1956, Vasary played in several Eastern European cities, including Moscow and Leningrad. Since his London debut in 1961 he has given recitals and played with major symphony orchestras in most of the world's capitals, under such conductors as Ernest Ansermet, Andre Cluytens, Georg Solti and Georg Szell. More recently he has toured North and South America, Australia, Japan, South Africa, India and Mexico. Just before coming to New Zealand he completed a tour of the United States.