Ilona Kabos

Ilona Kabos (7 December 1893 – 27 May 1973) was a Hungarian-British pianist and teacher.

Biography

Kabos was born in Budapest in 1893[1] (some sources give her year of birth as 1894, 1898 or 1902). She studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music under Árpád Szendy (a pupil of Franz Liszt), Leo Weiner and Zoltán Kodály), and in 1915 she won the Liszt Prize. In the early part of her career, she played for Ferruccio Busoni, who also played for her.[2] She toured widely, giving a number of premiere performances of works by composers including Kodály, Weiner, Béla Bartók, Luigi Dallapiccola, Roy Harris, Carlos Chávez and Mátyás Seiber.[3] She made her American debut in 1951.[1] She taught at the Royal Budapest Academy of Music from 1930 through 1936.

Kabos was married to fellow Hungarian pianist Louis Kentner, and they made their home in London. It is claimed that her pianism was superior to that of his.[2] In November 1942, Kabos and Kentner gave the world premiere of Bartók's Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra in London.[4] She premiered Robert Crawford's Six Bagatelles, Op. 3 (1948).[5]

Kabos' marriage ended in 1945, when Kentner left her for Griselda Gould (daughter of British pianist Evelyn Suart and sister of the ballerina Diana Gould, who was Yehudi Menuhin's second wife).

Kabos's greatest legacy is as a teacher of other pianists. She gave master classes, and taught both privately and at institutions such as Dartington Summer School[3] and the Juilliard School (from 1965, at the express invitation of Peter Mennin; Kabos and Rosina Lhévinne often exchanged students).[6]

Kabos' better-known students include: Susan Alexander-Max, David Bollard,[7] Robert Cuckson,[8] Monte Hill Davis, Norma Fisher,[3][9] Peter Frankl,[3] Joan Havill,[10] Niel Immelman, William Corbett Jones, Joseph Kalichstein,[3][11] David Oei, John Ogdon,[3] Denver Oldham, Kun-Woo Paik, Alberto Portugheis, Staffan Scheja,[12] Roberto Szidon and Alan Weiss. Other students included: Paul Burke,[13] Nigel Coxe,[14] David-Michael Dunbar,[15] Marilyn Engle,[16] Meira Farkas, Jonathan Miles Freeman,[17] Otto Freudenthal,[18] Nancy Burton Garrett,[19] Derek Han,[20] Robin Harrison,[21] Emanuel Krasovsky,[22] Risto Lauriala,[23] Dana Muller,[24] Thalia Myers,[25] Marios Papadopoulos, Joel Sachs,[26] Jeffrey Siegel,[27] and Sérgio Varella-Cid.,[28] Veda Zuponcic.

Kabos' teaching method included scribbling on the music during her lessons. She was given to writing "bold directions in red crayon, right across the page, in huge letters, gratuitous slashes".[29] The crayon was actually a china marker, wrapped in paper. She was also the musical advisor for a number of films: Murder in the Cathedral (1951), The Fake (1953), The Diamond (1954), Jet Storm (1959), and The Hands of Orlac (1960).[30]

A hostel for Kabos' students was established in Finchley, North London, by Charles Napper.[3]

She died in London in 1973, aged 79.[1]

Tributes

The Inventions, Op. 2, are a set of piano pieces by André Tchaikowsky; each invention is a musical portrait of a friend or colleague of Tchaikowsky's, and No. 3 was subtitled "To Ilona Kabos".[3]

In 1968 Serge Tcherepnin wrote a piano piece for Kabos, called simply "For Ilona Kabos".

Recordings

Kabos made very few recordings. They include:

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References
  1. "Liszt Bartok Ilona Kabos BR1910 [CC]: Classical CD Reviews- May 2004 MusicWeb(UK)". Musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  2. "Arbiter of Cultural Traditions". Archived from the original on 8 February 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  3. "Andre Tchaikowsky Composer". Andretchaikowsky.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  4. "Concerts", The Times, 14 November 1942, p. 8
  5. "Wrightmusic.net" (PDF). Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  6. Olmstead, Andrea (7 August 2002). "Juilliard: A History". University of Illinois Press. Retrieved 7 August 2020 – via Google Books.
  7. "Anthony Maydwell, Piano Teaching: A Guide for Nurturing Musical Independence" (PDF). Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  8. "Curtis Institute of Music". Archived from the original on 25 November 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  9. "Home". London Master Classes. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  10. "Piano Summer School". Pianosummerschool.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  11. "Audiofon Records". Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  12. "O/modernt". Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  13. "UK Piano Tuners". Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  14. "Amherst Bulletin". Gazettenet.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  15. "PianoAccompanists.com". PianoAccompanists.com. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. "SKANDINAVISKA FÖRENINGENS KONSTNÄRSHUS". Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  19. "People | Butler School of Music - The University of Texas at Austin". Music.utexas.edu. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  20. "Arts Management Group". Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  21. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. , Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes
  23. "Risto Lauriala (Piano) - Short Biography". Bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  24. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. "Biography". Thaliamyers.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  26. "Faculty Directory at The Juilliard School". Juilliard.edu. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  27. "Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel". Keyboardconversations.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  28. "Sergio Varella-Cid (Piano) - Short Biography". Bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  29. John Robert Brown, John-robert.com
  30. "Ilona Kabos". IMDb.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  31. "Bartók Records and Publications". Bartokrecords.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  32. "Bachauer.org". Retrieved 7 August 2020.

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