Born: 1941, Debrecen
Academic degree, university position: associate professor
Studies:
1958-1963: Liszt Ferenc College of Music – piano studies with József Gát and András Mihály
She has participated in several of Yvonne Lefébure’s piano courses in Paris.
Teaching activities:
Since 1964, she has been teaching at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music.
Major concerts:
Since 1974, she has been regularly performing both as a solo player and at orchestra concerts in Budapest and other Hungarian towns. Besides European countries – like England, Germany, Austria, France, Czechoslovakia and Romania – she has also given concerts in Canada and China. She frequently performs as a chamber musician. The Hungarian Radio and Television often hire her as a pianist.
She gives several solo recitals every year in Budapest and in the country. Having a broad repertoire, she plays not only the Viennese classics and Romantic works but also French and Russian music from the beginning of the 20th century. In recent years she has also performed the works of Hungarian contemporary composers including Emil Petrovics, József Sári, István Láng, Attila Bozay and Máté Hollós.
Emil Petrovics has written a piano concerto especially for her, which is part of her permanent repertoire.
She has researched the unknown piano pieces of the 19th-century Hungarian Romanticism, including the works of Ábrányi, Bertha, Beliczay, Mosonyi, Goldmark, Volkmann, Sipos, Gaál, and others. She was the first to record the works of Volkmann, Heller and Emma Kodály with the Hungaroton Records.
She has a unique Dohnányi concert repertoire, and because of her 2 First Recording CD she is considered “a leading figure in the Dohnányi renaissance unfolding in Hungary” (Festival Journal, 2001). As an expert knower and committed interpreter of Ernő Dohnányi’s works, she plays an important role in the rediscovery of Dohnányi’s oeuvre.
Her permanent chamber music partners include Zoltán Kocsis, Jenő Jandó, Miklós Perényi, Dénes Gulyás, László Polgár, Csaba Onczay, the Tátrai String Quartet, the New Budapest String Quartet, András Kiss, Eszter Perényi, Anatolij Fokanov, Ingrid Kertesi, László Fenyő, György Liener, Ádám Banda and the Kelemen Quartet.
She has worked with such renowned conductors as Yuri Simonov, Rudolf Barshai, Arnold Katz, Kobayashi Ken-Ichiro, Miklós Erdélyi, Tamás Vásáry, Marc Gorenstein, Zsolt Hamar and Tamás Gál.
Since 1996, she has been the regular host of music salons reviving the Romantic traditions organized at the MATÁV (Telekom) House of Music and the Budapest Piano Salon. Through conversations spiced up with joint music playing with her friends, she has introduced to the audience the most outstanding figures in Hungarian music life (including Zoltán Kocsis, Péter Frankl, Jenő Jandó, Miklós Perényi, Ilona Tokody, the Tátrai String Quartet, Vilmos Szabadi, Csaba Onczay, Sándor Falvai, and others).
Recordings:
Since 1988, she has been working on a regular basis for the Hong-Kong based HNH International Limited, in most cases as the first performer of unknown works. She has released 81 albums worldwide, most of them with the Marco Polo, the Naxos and the Hungaroton labels.
1988: Bomtempo: Kvintett op. 16 Portugalsom (870006)
1988: Csajkovszkij: Évszakok, Op. 37b / Chanson triste (Naxos, 8.550233)
1989: Berwald: Zongoratriók 1-3. (Naxos, 8.555001)
1989: Godowsky: Valcermaszkok (Marco Polo, 8.223312)
1990: Atterberg: Kamarazene I. (Marco Polo, 8.223404)
1990: Hollós Máté: Fölfelé hulló levelek éneke (JOKA, PCL 8006)
1990: Korngold: Zongora szonáták No. 1, 2 (Marco Polo, 8.223384)
1991: Atterberg: Kamarazene II. (Marco Polo, 8.223405)
1991: Boëlmann: Zongorakvartett, Zongoratrió (Marco Polo, 8.223524)
1991: Csajkovszkij zongoradarabok (Naxos, 8.550504)
1991: David, Felicien: Zongoratriók (Marco Polo, 8.223492)
1991: Korngold: D-dúr Hegedű-zongora szonáta op.6; E-dúr Zongorakvintett op. 15 (Marco Polo, 8.223385)
1991: Kuhlau: Zongorakvartettek (Marco Polo, 8.223482)
1991: Kuhlau: Zongorakvartettek (Marco Polo, 8.223482)
1991: Schubert: Négykezes zongoraművek (Naxos, 8.550555)
1991: Berwald: Zongoratriók 1-3. (Marco Polo, 8.223170)
1992: Associated Board 1995 (Marco Polo, AB-80501, 80502, 80503)
1992: Bartók: Dalok (Hungaroton, HCD 31535)
1992: Bennett: Piano Works, Vol. 1 (Marco Polo, 9.223512)
1992: Bennett: Piano Works, Vol. 2 (Marco Polo, 8.223526)
1992: Bennett: Piano Works, Vol. 3 (Marco Polo, 8.223578)
1992: Bennett: Szextett op. 15; Zongoratrió op. 98 (Marco Polo, 8.223304)
1992: O, Wunderbare Harmonie (Hungaroton, HCD/MK 31425)
1993: Bartók: Zongoraátiratok (Marco Polo, 8.223663)
1993: d'Indy, Vincent: Desz-dúr vonósnégyes No. 3 op. 96; G-dúr zongoraötös op. 81; d'Indy, Wilfred: G-dúr zongoratrió op. 15 (Marco Polo, 8.223691)
1993: Rachmanyinov: Zenekari művek (Hungaroton, HCD 31551)
1993: Boellmann: Piano Quartet / Piano Trio (Marco Polo, 8.223524)
1994: Arensky: Vonósnégyesek; Zongoraötös (Marco Polo, 8.223811)
1994: Für Elise – Best of romantic piano music (Naxos, 8.550647DX)
1994: The maiden's prayer and other piano (Naxos, 8.550646DX)
1994: The Maiden's Prayer – Leaves from Grandmother's Piano Album (Naxos, 8.550646DX)
1995: Fauré, Gabriel: Requiem Op. 48/ Liszt Ferenc: Via Crucis S. 583 (Hungaroton, HCD 31424)
1995: La Valse (Hungaroton, HCD 31435)
1995: Romance (Naxos, 8.553216)
1995: Masterpieces of the romantic piano (Naxos, 8.553252)
1996: Around the World (Naxos 223003)
1997: Donizetti & Rossini: Dalok és duettek (Hungaroton, HCD 31544)
1997: Hungaroton Classic - 1998 (Hungaroton, HCD 31774)
1997: Láng István: Szonáta hegedűre és zongorára, Szonáta gordonkára és zongorára, Canto per flauto solo etc. (Hungaroton, HCD 31641)
1997: The Best of Tchaikovsky (Naxos, 8.556652, a 8.505092 és a 8.554775 boxok részeként is)
1998: Borogyin: Kamarazene (Marco Polo, 8.223172)
1998: Kiel: Zongora kvintettek No. 1 és 2 (Marco Polo 8.223171)
1998: Sinding: Zongota triók Nos 2;3 (Marco Polo 8.223283)
1998: Volkmann: Zongoramuzsika (Hungaroton, HCD 31735)
1998: Widor: d-moll Zongorakvintett; B-dúr zongoratrió (Marco Polo, 8.555416)
1998: Für Elise – Romantic Piano Music (Naxos, 8.550647)
1999: My piano album 1 (Naxos, 8.554908DX)
1999: Largo Collection of Classical Music (Naxos)
2000: Dohnányi: Zongoraművek 1. (Hungaroton, HCD 31910)
2000: Haydn: Piano Concertos (Dó-Lá Studio)
2000: Szkrjabin: III. szimfónia / Le Poeme de l'extase (átiratok) (Naxos, 8.555327)
2000: Sonata – Classical Favourites for Relaxing and Dreaming (Naxos, 8.556609)
2000: The Magic of Spring (Naxos, 8.557785, a 8.504038 box részeként is)
2001: 50 éves a Hungaroton - Énekművészek (1951-2001) (Hungaroton, HCD 31096)
2001: 50 éves a Hungaroton - Zongoraművészek (1951-2001) (Hungaroton, HCD 32088-90)
2001: Törley Szalon dalai (Katedrális Bt.)
2001: Keller, G.: Der Schmied seines Gluckes (Naxos Hörbücher, NHB10682)
2002: Widor: Zongoratrió, pp. 19 / Zongorakvintett, op. 7 (Marco Polo, 8.223193)
2003: Chill With Tchaikovsky (Naxos, 8.556785, a 8.504038 box részeként is)
2003: Nocturne - Late Night Piano Music (Naxos, 8.557292)
2004: Dohnányi: Zongoraművek 2. (Hungaroton, HCD 32191)
2004: Kodály Emma: Dalok és Zongoradarabok (Hungaroton, HCD 32289)
2004: Klavier Gala (naxos, 8.551225-26)
2004: Musical Journey (A) – Moscow and the Golden Ring (Naxos, 2.110507)
2004: Musical Journey (A) – St petersburg: Palaces of the Tsars (Naxos, 2.110511)
2004: Toner till trost (Naxos, 8.503158)
2005: Láng István: Inquieto, Sempre in tensione, Ist es möglich ohne B-A-C-H, VII. Szimfonia (Hungaroton, HCD 32357)
2005: Art & Music – Cezanne (Naxos, 8.558179, a 8.503269 box részeként is)
2005: Tchaikovsky – The Very Best Of (Naxos, 8.552117-18, a 8.502020 box részeként is)
2005: The Mystery of Autumn (Naxos, 8.557791, a 8.504038 box részeként is)
2005: Night music, vol. 9 (Naxos, 8.556823)
2006: Heller, Stephen: Zongoraművek (Hungaroton, HCD 32400)
2006: The Story of British Classical Music (Naxos Educational, 8.558193-94)
2007: Classical Harmonies for Contemplation – Piano Music, Vol. 1 (Naxos, 9.00011-12)
2010: A magyar hegedű szellem/The Spirit of the Hungarian Violin, közreműködik: Banda Ádám (Magánkiadás, AVISOCD1001)
2010: Easy-Listening Piano Classics: Godowsky (Naxos, 8.578093-95)
2010: Easy-listening Piano Classics: Russian Composers (Classicsonline, 9.76013)
2012: My First Tchaikovsky Album (Naxos, 8.578214)
2013: Become an Instant Expert (Naxos 940352)
2013: My First Classical Albums (Naxos 8509003)
2013: Antologia della Musica, vol. 15 (Naxos)
2014: Classics for a Rainy Day (Naxos 900238)
2014: Autumn: Classical Music for a New Season (Naxos 900198)
2014: 50 of the Best Classical Music (Naxos 940355)
2015: Fascination Klavierquintett, vol. 2 (Naxos 90267)
2015: Fascination Klavierquintett, vol. 3 (Naxos 900268)
2015: Fascination Klavierquintett, vol. 4 (Naxos 900269)
Awards and honors:
1985: Ministerial Certificate of Merit
1992: Award of Excellence of the Hungarian Performing Artists
1993: “Dedicated Service in Community Culture” Award of the Ministry of Education
1993: Artisjus Prize
1994: Liszt Prize
1997: Artisjus Prize
1999: Artisjus Prize
2003: "For Ferencváros" medallion
2011: Bartók-Pásztory Award
2015: Artist of Merit of Hungary
Contact:
prunyi.ilona[at]gmail.com