ERVIN NYIREGYHAZI

1903 - 1987

Ervin Nyiregyházi in Performance
Live Recordings 1972-1982

Ervin Nyiregyhazi in  Performance

Works by

Liszt, Brahms, Schubert
Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin
Debussy, Chopin and Rachmaninov

Digitally remastered in 2007

Music and Arts CD 1202

a two cd set


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the amazon.com link for purchase


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order direct from Music and Arts



Music and Arts CD 1202

CD No. 1: Liszt, Brahms, Scriabin, Grieg (76:28)

01 Liszt: Legendes: No. 1, "St. Francois d'Assise: la predication aux oiseaux" (13:06)
SOURCE: Old First Church, San Francisco, 6 May 1973

02 Liszt: Legendes: No. 2, "St. Francois de Paule marchant sur les flots" (9:39)
SOURCE: Old First Church, San Francisco, 6 May 1973

03 Liszt (arr. Nyiregyhazi): Excerpts from No. 5 ("Elizabeth") of the oratorio Die Legende von der heiligen Elisabeth (7:23)
SOURCE: Home of Ronald Antonioli, Novato, California, 29 July 1973

04 Liszt: Zwei KonzertetudenL No. 1, "Waldesrauschen" (5:56)
SOURCE: Home of Ronald Antonioli, Novato, California, 29 July 1973

05 Liszt: Annees de pelerinage, deuxieme annee, Italie: No. 6, "Sonetto 123 Petrarca" (8:01)
SOURCE: Home of Ronald Antonioli, Novato, California, 29 July 1973

06 Liszt: Annees de pelerinage, troisieme annee: No. 2, "Aux cypres de la Villa d'Este" (No. 1, 3/4) (7:47)
SOURCE: Century Club of California, San Francisco, 17 December 1972

07 Liszt: Annees de pelerinage, premiere annee, Suisse: No. 2, "Au lac de Wallenstadt" (4:12)
SOURCE: Dai-ichi Seimei Hall, Tokyo, 21 January 1982

08 Brahms: Intermezzo in E-flat Minor, Op. 118/No. 6 (6:23)
SOURCE: Home of Ronald Antonioli, Novato, California, 29 July 1973

09 Scriabin: Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp Major, Op. 30 (two linked movements, 8:14)
SOURCE: Forest Hill neighborhood association clubhouse, San Francisco, 24 May 1973

10 Grieg: Lyric Pieces, Op. 54: No. 4, "Notturno" (5:42)
SOURCE: Forest Hill neighborhood association clubhouse, San Francisco, 24 May 1973


CD No. 2: Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Schubert (74:51)

01 Tchaikovsky: Douze morceaux, Op. 40: No. 8, "Valse" in A-flat Major (5:37)
SOURCE: Forest Hill neighborhood association clubhouse, San Francisco, 24 May 1973

02 Tchaikovsky: Romance in F Minor, Op. 5 (7:22)
SOURCE: Takasaki College of Music, Takasaki, Japan, 1 June 1980

03 Debussy: Estampes: No. 1, "Pagodes" (6:25)
SOURCE: Forest Hill neighborhood association clubhouse, San Francisco, 24 May 1973

04 Debussy: La plus que lente (4:59)
SOURCE: Forest Hill neighborhood association clubhouse, San Francisco, 24 May 1973

05 Chopin: Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Op. 6/No. 2 (4:19)
SOURCE: Century Club of California, San Francisco, 17 December 1972

06 Chopin: Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 28/No. 10 ( :45)
SOURCE: Century Club of California, San Francisco, 17 December 1972

07 Chopin: Mazurka in F Minor, Op. 63/No. 2 (2:37)
SOURCE: Century Club of California, San Francisco, 17 December 1972

08 Chopin: Mazurka in B Minor, Op. 33/No. 4 (6:09)
SOURCE: Century Club of California, San Francisco, 17 December 1972

09 Chopin: Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55/No. 1 (6:58)
SOURCE: Old First Church, San Francisco, 6 May 1973

10 Rachmaninov (arr. Nyiregyhazi): Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18, II: Adagio sostenuto (15:51)
SOURCE: Dai-ichi Seimei Hall, Tokyo, 21 January 1982

11 Schubert (arr. Nyiregyhazi): "Der Wanderer" (6:55)
SOURCE: Takasaki College of Music, Takasaki, Japan, 31 May 1980

12 Schubert (arr. Nyiregyhazi): "Heidenroslein" (2:07)
SOURCE: Takasaki College of Music, Takasaki, Japan, 1 June 1980

13 bonus track - Cameron O'Day Macpherson: "Before the Dawn" from Deserted Garden (4:39)
Los Angeles Federal Symphony Orchestra conducted by Modest Altschuler
SOURCE: Federal Music Project, Program No. 76, 1936


Ervin  Nyiregyhazi in 1920
CLICK HERE TO REACH
THE ERVIN NYIREGYHAZI IMAGE GALLERY


Ervin Nyiregyhazi, child prodigy pianist and composer, performed extensively between 1909 and
1930. His 1920s Carnegie Hall debut is said to have received a much more enthusiastic
response than that of Vladimir Horowitz a few years later. Following a lawsuit against
his manager (R.E. Johnston - who, to judge from accounts in Andre Benoist's "The
Accompanist", may not have had a performer's best interests at heart), Nyiregyhazi's
performing career dissipated. He participated in some movies, was juror at a piano competition
in which one of the participants was Raymond Lewenthal (whom Nyiregyhazi voted for - but who
also did not win the competition), and composed. A live broadcast during the 1940s of him performing
Ferenc Liszt's (or, Germanized, Franz Liszt's) second piano concerto, has never surfaced as having
been recorded. Similarly, a 1960s private recording of Liszt's B Minor Sonata, has remained elusive.
To defray his ninth wife's medical expenses, Nyiregyhazi gave a number of recitals in the 1970s,
primarily of repertoire by Ferenc Liszt, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Frederic Chopin, Claude
Debussy and Theodore Leschetizky, which led to a Desmar LP ("Nyiregyhazi Plays Liszt") produced under
the auspices of the International Piano Archives, and a Columbia Records two-LP Liszt set that was
Stereo Review's record of the year in 1978. Following this, Nyiregyhazi was offered return concerts
at Carnegie Hall, but Nyiregyhazi declined. He continued to compose, performed in Japan in 1980
and 1982, and died of colon cancer in 1987.


Michael Sayers March 1st 2007

RIGHT CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
A .MP3 (AUDIO) FILE OF ERVIN NYIREGYHAZI'S "ANDANTE, ETHEREAL" (5.57 mb)


pianist Michael Sayers
Coe College, Sinclair Auditorium
October 13, 2002
U.S. Steinway D piano





Kahn's for Pianos December 13 2003 flier

Kahn's for Pianos December 13 2003 programme

Audio and video files from this
performance of Ervin Nyiregyhazi compositions
will be available here and at these linked addresses:

http://www.myspace.com/michaelsayerservinnyiregyhazi

http://www.youtube.com/user/PianistMichaelSayers





cover for Lost Genius by Kevin Bazzana
CLICK HERE TO REACH
MCCLELLAND'S CATALOGUE ENTRY
FOR KEVIN BAZZANA'S
BIOGRAPHY OF ERVIN NYIREGYHAZI

Lost Genius: The Story of a Forgotten Musical Maverick




1903 Born on January 19 in Budapest, Hungary.
1907 First formal compositions.
1909 Introduced his own works at a recital in Fiume.
1910 Enrolled at the Academy of Music in Budapest.
Studied theory with Leo Weiner and Albert Siklos.
Studied piano with Istvan (Stephan) Thoman, a former Liszt pupil, and Arnold Szekely, Toman's own pupil.
1911 Performed for Queen Mary in Buckingham Palace.
1914 Nyiregyhazi's father died.
1915 Berlin Philharmonic debut.
1916 Finished lessons with Erno von Dohnanyi.
1918 In Oslo, substituted for Rachmaninoff in the first Tchaikovsky piano concerto.
1919 Toured the neutral Scandanavian countries.
1920 Debuted at Carnegie Hall on October 18. Joined the roster of manager R.E. Johnston.
1924 "The Psychology of a Musical Prodigy" by Dr. Geza Revesz was published.
1925 Sued manager R.E. Johnston.
1926 Married for the first time.
1927 Employed by Hugo Reisenfeld at United Artists.
He sight-read any new fully-orchestrated scores brought into the office.
1930 Performed in Budapest, Vienna and Holland.
1934 Played at the Budapest home of violinist Jeno Hubay.
1938 Concert in Oslo.
1959 Nyiregyhazi returned to Europe for a few concerts.
1972 Nyiregyhazi married his ninth wife, Elsie.
1973 Performed to cover medical bills for Elsie.
1974 Recorded in Los Angeles for the International Piano Archives.
1977 International Piano Archives/Desmar album "Nyiregyhazi Plays Liszt".
1978 Further recordings for the International Piano Archives.
1978 CBS/Columbia Records double album "Nyiregyhazi Plays Liszt" produced.
1978 "Nyiregyhazi Plays Liszt" for Columbia Records was Stereo Review's record of the year.
1980 Japan performances on May 31 and June 1.
1980 The Japan Nyiregyhazi Association was established.
1982 On January 10, Nyiregyhazi Performed some of his own works at the Gunma Music Center.
1982 On January 21, Nyiregyhazi gave his last concert in Japan at the Tokyo Daiichi Seimi Hall.
1987 Nyiregyhazi passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 74.


sources:

"Nyiregyhazi Plays Liszt" CBS/Columbia Records liner notes

"Nyiregyhazi Plays Liszt" International Piano Archives/Desmar IPA 111 liner notes

Stereo Review, 1978

Takasaki Art Center College Institute of Art and Culture, "Nyiregyhazi and Takasaki Art Center College"

Time Magazine, May 29, 1978, "Nine Wives and 700 Works Later"



The Lost Zeppelin
a 1929 Tiffany Pictures talkie

Ervin Nyiregyhazi plays from Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12
and Liszt's Liebestraum No.1 in A-flat Major

right click here to download this in .mpg format (7.28 mb)




Ervin Nyiregyhazi in 1978

the composition is Emile R. Blanchet's
Au jardin du vieux Serail
(Op. 18 No. 3)




ERVIN NYIREGYHAZI LINKS

Kowalski Salut A Pesth piano roll Kowalski Salut A Pesth piano roll

http://www.ervinnyiregyhazi.net/
The International Ervin Nyiregyhazi Foundation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyiregyhazi
Wikipedia Ervin Nyiregyhazi article

http://www.nyiregyhazi.org/
Ervin Nyiregyhazi website, managed by Aaron Gross

http://fugue.us/Ervin.html
Ervin Nyiregyhazi website with movie mp3s, rare photos and more

http://www.marymaclane.com/nyiregyhazi/
Ervin Nyiregyhazi website, managed by Michael Brown

http://www.vai-music.com/CD/1003.htm
VAI Audio
Nyiregyhazi at the Opera cd release


http://www.amica.org/Live/amica_Organization/amica-Hall-of-Fame_Members/nyiregyhazi.htm
AMICA Hall of Fame:
Ervin Nyiregyhazi Gives recital in Novato, CA
by Bill Knorp, The AMICA, V. 10, No 9, Sept 1973;
obituary from the AMICA, May/June 1987


http://www.americanhungarianfederation.org/culturalnews_nyiregyhazi.htm
American Hungarian Federation Cultural News: Ervin Nyiregyhazi

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816, 919731,00.html
"Nine Wives and 700 Works Later" by Annalyn Swan
Time Magazine, Monday May 29, 1978


http://www.classicalnotes.net/features/joachim4.html
In search of...
The Most Important Record Ever Made
(article by Peter Gutmann, that in part is written about Nyiregyhazi)


http://groups.myspace.com/ErvinNyiregyhazi
Myspace Ervin Nyiregyhazi group

http://www.myspace.com/ervinnyiregyhazi
Myspace Ervin Nyiregyhazi profile

http://www.myspace.com/michaelsayerservinnyiregyhazi
Myspace Michael Sayers performs Ervin Nyiregyhazi profile

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ervinnyiregyhaziadmirerscl ub
Yahoo Ervin Nyiregyhazi group

http://groups.msn.com/ervinnyiregyhazi
MSN Ervin Nyiregyhazi group



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mjs@michaelsayers.com



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