Kertész, Istvân
Kertész, Istvân
Kertész, Istvân, noted Hungarian-born German conductor; b. Budapest, Aug. 28, 1929; d. (drowned while swimming in the Mediterranean) Kfar Saba, Israel, April 16, 1973. He studied violin and composition at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where his principal teachers were Kodâly and Weiner; also received instruction in conducting from Somogyi. He conducted in Györ (1953–55) and at the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest (1955–56); after the unsuccessful Hungarian revolution (1956), he settled in West Germany and became a naturalized citizen; he completed his conducting studies with Previtali at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome (1958). He was Generalmusikdirektor in Augsburg (1958–63); made his first appearances as a guest conductor in England in 1960 and in the U.S. in 1961. In 1964 he became Generalmusikdirektor of the Cologne Opera, a post he retained until his death; he was also principal conductor of the London Sym. Orch. (1965–68), which he led on a world tour (1965). His readings of the Romantic repertoire were especially admired for their warmth and lyricism.
Bibliography
K. Richter, I. K. (Augsburg, 1976).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire