Kocsis, Zoltan (György)
Kocsis, Zoltan (György)
Kocsis, Zoltan (György), brilliant Hungarian pianist; b. Budapest, May 30, 1952. He began his studies at the Bela Bartók Cons. (1963–68), then trained with Pal Kadosa, Ferenc Rados, and György Kurtâg at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music (graduated, 1973) in Budapest. In 1970 he won the Hungarian Radio Beethoven competition. After appearing as soloist with the Dresden Phil, in 1971, he made his first tour of the U.S. as soloist with the Hungarian Radio and Television Sym. Orch. In 1973 he won the Liszt Prize and soon launched an acclaimed international career. With the conductor Ivan Fischer, he founded in 1983 the Budapest Festival Orch., with which he frequently appeared as a soloist and for which he served as artistic director. In 1997 he became artistic director of the Hungarian National Phil, in Budapest. A performer of extraordinary versatility, he includes in his repertoire works ranging from Bach to the avant-garde. He has made numerous transcriptions for piano; has also composed orch. music, including the topical Memento (Chernobyl ’86). In 1978 he was awarded the Kossuth Prize, and in 1984 he was named a Merited Artist by the Hungarian government.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire