Rudolf Serkin

One of the greatest interpreters of Beethoven’s works, Rudolf Serkin is considered one of the finest pianists of the 20th century. Born in Eger (now Cheb), in the Kingdom of Bohemia in Austria-Hungary, on March 28, 1903, he showed a precocious talent for the piano from the age of five. The son of Russian singer Mardko Serkin, he was a child prodigy who could read the notes on sheet music before he could read the words of a text. At the age of nine, he studied piano under Richard Robert in Vienna, as well as studying composition under Joseph Marx. After making his stage debut at the age of 12 with the Vienna Philharmonic, he continued his composition studies with Arnold Schönberg from 1918 to 1920 and moved to Berlin to live with the family of violinist Adolf Busch, a member of the Busch Quartet with whom he enjoyed a long friendship. Their association in chamber music, which began with trio recitals with Hermann Busch in 1921, continued on record for several years. In 1933, all three left Germany for Switzerland, and that same year Rudolf Serkin made his debut in the United States, where he eventually settled in 1939, becoming an American citizen. A favored soloist of Arturo Toscanini with the New York Philharmonic, the pianist appeared in recital at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1937. He taught at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's Curtis Institute, where he served as director from 1968 to 1977, while continuing his international solo career. His numerous recordings for Columbia Masterworks explored the entire piano repertoire of Beethoven, as well as Brahms, Schubert, Bach, Mozart, and Reger, a little-played composer at the time. His orchestral works were mainly performed with conductors Eugene Ormandy, George Szell, Alexander Schneider, and Leonard Bernstein. A regular guest of Pablo Casals at the Prades Festival in France since 1950, Rudolf Serkin founded the Marlboro Festival with Adolf Busch in 1951, where the pianist had made his home in Guilford. Still very active in the 1980s, he collaborated with Claudio Abbado on Mozart concertos for the Deutsche Grammophon label, and with Seiji Ozawa on Beethoven concertos for Telarc. After a long distinguished and influential career, Rudolf Serkin died on May 8, 1991, at the age of 88. Since his passing, his recordings have been reissued and compiled on many releases including Rudolf Serkin Plays (2007), The Essential Rudolf Serkin (2008), Rudolf Serkin Plays Schubert (2015), The Complete Columbia Album Collection box set (2017), and The Lost Tapes – Beethoven Sonatas : "Waldstein" & "Appassionata" (2023).

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