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not play at all in the style you and I strive for. And just as I did not judge him on that basis, I imagine that when you hear him, you too will be compelled to ignore all matters of principle, and probably will end up doing just as I did. For your principles would not be the proper standard to apply. What he plays is expression in the older sense of the word, nothing else; but such power of expression I have never heard before. You will disagree with his tempi as much as I did. You will also note that he often seems to give primacy to sharp contrasts at the expense of form, the latter appearing to get lost. I say appearing to; for then, in its own way, his music surprisingly regains its form, makes sense, establishes its own boundaries. The sound he brings out of the piano is unheard of, or at least I have never heard anything like it. He himself seems not to know how he produces these novel and quite incredible sounds – although he appears to be a man of intelligence and not just some flaccid dreamer. And such fullness of tone, achieved without ever becoming rough, I have never before encountered. For me, and probably for you too, it's really too much fullness, but as a whole it displays incredible novelty and persuasiveness. And above all he's only old, so he's still got several stages of development before him, from which one may expect great things, given his point of departure... it is amazing what he plays and how he plays it. One never senses that it is difficult, that it is technique – no, it is simply a power of the will, capable of soaring over all imaginable difficulties in the realization of an idea. – You see, I'm waxing almost poetic.
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things about his son: that Ervin had tried to sing before he was one year old; reproduced tunes correctly before he was two; began to compose at the age of two; played almost every song he heard correctly on a mouth-organ by the time he reached age three; and could identify any note or chord that was played for him by the age of seven. He was known for his musicality just as much as his technique. On tests of general intelligence, Ervin scored a few years above average. His mother, Mária, was a
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project. But the most unusual appearance was likely a 1946 recital where he was billed as "Mr. X" and played while wearing a black silk hood. Several listeners were able to identify
Nyiregyházi by his distinctive sonority. Although he continued to play occasionally, he did not own a piano for roughly
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wrote, "some critics wonder if Franz Liszt had been reincarnated"). Others denounced
Nyiregyhazi's "incredibly slipshod" technique, "ridiculously amateurish" fortissimo playing, "glacial tempos and total dissociation from contemporary performance styles. But Romantic revivalists were enthralled." In
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Nyiregyházi was married ten times. His first wife allegedly attacked him with a knife, leading to a messy publicized divorce. Though born into comfortable circumstances (his mother insisted that the servants tie his shoes and feed him by hand so as to relieve him of mundane concerns), he nonetheless
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who tried to dissuade him from studying opera and symphonic music and pushed her son to study the standard piano repertoire so he could concertize and make money for their family. (In later years, Ervin claimed that his mother sexually molested him.) Ervin eventually broke with his mother, and later
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In 1925, Nyiregyházi sued his concert manager, R. E. Johnston, alleging that accompanying singers and instrumentalists were treating him as an inferior artist. He lost the suit, and thereafter had difficulty finding concert work. In addition, Nyiregyházi, fearing comparison with other pianists, was
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a pianist who appears to be something really quite extraordinary. I had to overcome great resistance in order to go at all, for the description I'd heard from Dr. Hoffmann and from
Maurice Zam had made me very skeptical. But I must say that I have never heard such a pianist before... First, he does
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and was the subject of an article and a book, published in 1911 and 1916, respectively. Nyiregyházi's father, Ignácz, was a singer in the Royal Opera Chorus in
Budapest; he was also very encouraging and caring but died when Ervin was twelve. Before Ignácz's death, he reported several extraordinary
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Several public appearances in 1972 and 1973 led to studio recordings made in 1974 and 1978 under the auspices of the
International Piano Archives and the Ford Foundation. Some of these recordings were released between 1977 and 1979 on albums on the Desmar and Columbia Masterworks labels, which
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wrote of
Nyiregyházi's "brilliant technical equipment, great strength of arm and fingers, remarkable dexterity, a fine feeling for piano tone" but criticized his "often erratic and misleading" conceptions of "some of the most familiar compositions for the piano". H. T. Finck of the
55:) was a Hungarian and American pianist and composer. After several years on the concert stage in the 1920s, he descended into relative obscurity before briefly reemerging in the 1970s. His highly distinctive playing style, which has been seen by some as linked to the kind of
373:, International Library of Psychology, Philosophy, and Scientific Method (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd.; New York, Harcourt, Brace & Company, Inc., 1925), reprinted (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1970; New York: Blom, 1971; London: Routledge, 1999
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reluctant to play standard repertoire, preferring his own transcriptions of orchestral and operatic works. By the time of
Schoenberg's letter, Nyiregyházi's career seemed to be effectively over.
200:, among others, but his inability to manage his affairs led not only to financial crises but also to unusual career decisions. In the 1930s, he played piano as part of a
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Nyiregyházi was also a prolific composer, writing in a
Romantic style reminiscent of Liszt. Events often moved him to compose, and his works have titles such as
128:, writing in the Boston Post, described Nyiregyhazi as a "phenomenal performer" with "the white heat of sincerity, conviction and faith." In a 1935 letter to
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Nyiregyházi was the first child prodigy musician to be seriously studied, and Révész's book made him being among the best-documented prodigies in history.
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Géza Révész, "Über die hervorragenden akustischen
Eigenschaften und musikalischen Fähigkeiten des siebenjährigen Komponisten Erwin Nyiregyházy", in
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His name is sometimes spelled "Erwin" (the German spelling of his given name). The name is presumably derived from the
Hungarian city of
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1978, he was offered concerts at Carnegie Hall, but declined. Recitals in Japan in 1980 and 1982 were his last public appearances.
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praised Nyiregyházi's "originality" but criticized his "arbitrary disregard of the obvious intentions of great composers."
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Critical reaction to the recordings was sharply divided, with some claiming to hear an authentic 19th-century pianist (
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A few of Nyiregyházi's recordings, including some live performances, have been issued on CD on the VAI,
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A website containing various recordings of Nyiregyházi's concert performances and photographs etc.
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and worked for a film studio, initially playing piano reductions of film scores, and later as a
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Harold C. Schonberg, "After 50 Years (and 9 Wives), Erwin Nyiregyhazi Is Back at the Piano",
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spent the better part of his life in poverty, at times reduced to sleeping in subways.
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A page at Michael Sayers's website with recordings of Ervin Nyiregyházi compositions
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Erwin Nyiregyházy: Psychologische Analyse eines musikalisch hervorragenden Kindes
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briefly brought Nyiregyházi back into public view. An all-Liszt double album won
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410:(McClelland & Stewart, cloth) 0771011008 (McClelland & Stewart, pbk)
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From ages six to twelve, Nyiregyházi was observed by the psychologist
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597:, "Erwin Nyiregyhazi Dies at 84; Pianist Regained Fame in 70's",
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Bericht über den IV. Kongress für Experimentelle Psychologie
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Harold C. Schonberg, "The Case of The Vanishing Pianist",
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Lost Genius: The Story of a Forgotten Musical Maverick
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Nyiregyhazi: Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Bortkiewicz, Blanchet
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Richard Aldrich, "Music: Mr. Nyredghazi's [
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581:Bazzana, (2007) page 278, quoting Dean Elder in
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733:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
81:expressed pleasure that she had died in a Nazi
623:The International Ervin Nyiregyházi Foundation
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738:Deaths from colorectal cancer in California
229:, It’s Nice to be Soused, Shotgun Wedding,
455:Carnegie Hall: The First One Hundred Years
16:Hungarian and American pianist (1903–1987)
723:Hungarian emigrants to the United States
628:A website dedicated to Ervin Nyiregyházi
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503:http://fugue.us/N-1941-program-p1-2.gif
192:, among others. He became friends with
180:. His hands are shown playing piano in
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146:Descent into obscurity and reemergence
728:Works Progress Administration workers
453:Richard Schickel and Michael Walsh,
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370:The Psychology of a Musical Prodigy
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103:with the Berlin Philharmonic under
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283:IPA 111, Telefunken 6.42626, 1977)
213:'s 1978 Record of the Year award.
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111:debut in 1920 was controversial:
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96:. At age 15, he performed
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289:(Columbia M2-34598, 1978)
249:Forest Lawn Memorial Park
101:Piano Concerto in A major
88:Nyiregyházi studied with
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532:Bazzana (2007): 205–206.
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295:(Columbia M-35125, 1979)
59:pianism associated with
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484:(October 19, 1920).
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218:Harold C. Schonberg
47:(January 19, 1903,
183:A Song to Remember
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348:Nyíregyháza
328:Lost Genius
306:Biographies
271:Discography
194:Bela Lugosi
178:hand double
174:Los Angeles
126:Olin Downes
73:Géza Révész
61:Franz Liszt
53:Los Angeles
662:Categories
387:1432588583
379:0415209706
335:References
259:Recordings
205:40 years.
314:In 2007,
641:Archived
585:magazine
279:(Desmar/
57:Romantic
49:Budapest
583:Clavier
115:of the
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320:Canada
107:. His
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