Louis (Lajos) Kentner – 5th Prize winner, 2nd International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw (1932). Louis Kentner’s remarkable musical abilities became apparent when he was five years old. At six, he was accepted to the Music Academy in Budapest, receiving tuition in piano, theory and composition from renowned teachers Arnold Székely, Leo Weiner, Hans Koessler and Zoltán Kodály. He completed his studies at the age of 17, in 1922.
He began his concert career at the age of 15. A few years later he amazed the Budapest public with his performance of Beethoven’s complete Sonatas. He performed in Poland for the first time in 1930 at a concert of Budapest Music Academy graduates, during which he played Liszt’s Sonata in B minor. This concert was broadcast by the Polish Radio. Two years later, he came to Warsaw for the Chopin Competition, where he was awarded 5th Prize.
In 1933, he took part in the 1st International Liszt Competition in Budapest. Here too he achieved success, claiming 2nd Prize. Also in 1933 he became the second performer (after the composer himself) of Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2, which he played with a Budapest orchestra under the direction of Otto Klemperer. On 27th November 1946 Kentner gave the European première of Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in London under conductor Adrian Boult.
In 1935 Kentner emigrated from Hungary to London. He married the sister of Yehudi Menuhin and started appearing on stage not only as a soloist but also as a chamber performer with Menuhin as a partner. For a certain period they were joined by famous cellist Gaspar Cassadó in a trio.
After World War II, Mr. Kentner’s career resumed with new vigour: the music world discovered him anew. The pianist was deluged with invitations to perform, becoming one of the most coveted pianists in Europe. He had to be selective with invitations to avoid falling into – in his own words – “the routine of a playing machine”.
In 1955, Kentner was invited to the jury of the 5th Chopin Competition in Warsaw. On this occasion he played several concerts in Poland, appearing in Wrocław and Poznań with Beethoven’s 5th Piano Concerto in E flat major, and in Cracow and Warsaw with recitals. In Cracow, he played works by Bach/Busoni, Schubert and Brahms, and in Warsaw by Schubert, Liszt, Beethoven and Brahms followed by six Liszt and Chopin encores. Kentner’s success in Warsaw was so huge that tales of his performance continue to circulate to this day. Kentner last performed in Poland in 1977, with a recital at the Chopin Society in Warsaw and at the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki, where he played Franck’s Prelude, Chorale and Fugue, Mozart’s Rondo in A minor, Chopin’s Sonata in B flat minor, Bartók’s For Children and Kodály’s Dances of Marosszék followed by three Liszt concert studies (La leggierezza, Feux follets, La campanella).
Kentner had a broad repertoire, ranging from Bach (complete Das Wohltemperierte Klavier), Beethoven (all concertos and sonatas), Schumann, Schubert, Liszt (complete Hungarian rhapsodies, studies, Années de Pèlerinage, Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, piano paraphrases and transcriptions), Brahms, Chopin (complete Scherzos and Ballades, two Sonatas, Etudes, four Impromptus, Waltzes, Polonaises, Concertos etc.), Scriabin and Tchaikovsky to 20th-century composers such as Prokofiev, Balakirev (Sonata in B flat minor), Lyapunov (12 Transcendental Studies), Débussy, Rawsthorne (Piano Concerto), Tippett (Piano Concerto), as well as chamber compositions of several dozen composers.
Mr. Kentner made his New York début in 1956 with a series of seven recitals at the Town Hall, playing Beethoven’ 32 Sonatas. He later performed the same series in Paris, London, Budapest, Venice and for a second time in New York.
Kentner’s discography includes Liszt’s complete Hungarian rhapsodies, Études d’exécution transcendante, a selection of paraphrases and other original compositions; Chopin’s Ballades, Scherzos, Impromptus, Barcarolle, Etudes and Waltzes, Lyapunov’s 12 Transcendental Studies (twice), Balakirev’s Sonata in B flat minor and others.
Mr. Kentner was also active as a composer (he wrote more than 20 songs for voice and piano, two string quartets, a string quintet, several works for orchestra and many for piano) and piano teacher at the Royal Academy of Music in London. His students included Maria Bujańska and Anna Maria Stańczyk; with the latter Mr. Kentner performed concertos for two pianos.
Mr. Kentner sat in the juries of piano competitions in Warsaw (Chopin Competitions in 1955,1975 and 1980), Budapest, Leeds, Bolzano, and Montreal.
Stanisław Dybowski
