Clifford Curzon
Sir Clifford Curzon (born May 18, 1907 in London as Clifford Michael Siegenberg , † September 1, 1982 ibid) was a British pianist .
Life
Although the graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in his hometown was able to take up teaching at this institution following his exams (1926–1928), he decided in 1928 to continue training with Artur Schnabel in Berlin and Wanda Landowska and Nadia Boulanger in Paris .
In 1931 he married the harpsichordist Lucille Curzon (née Wallace), who had a villa built in Litzlberg am Attersee in 1927/28 in an English country house style. There is also a caretaker's house and a log house that served as a music room.
The villa is then referred to as the Curzon villa .
In 1939 the management was handed over to a friend of the family. Much is unclear about the ownership structure and uses during and after the Second World War . In 1944 bomb victims moved in from Linz, from 1945 to 1947 the US military, which is where the name American villa is based. Ultimately, the Curzons get the property back. Today the villa, including the outbuildings and boathouse, is a listed building .
In 1954 he and his wife adopted the orphans Peter and Fritz from the marriage of Maria Cebotari (died 1949) and Gustav Diessl (died 1948).
His wife died in 1977, and in 1982 he sold the villa as his sons had no interest in it.
1977 Clifford Curzon is knighted a Knight Bachelor ("Sir").
Self-criticism and an inquiring and thoughtful attitude towards the masterpieces of music that he shared with his teacher Schnabel and that set him apart from the “conquering” virtuosos also characterized Curzon's later career, in which he repeatedly took longer breaks in numerous chamber music -Performances renounced any soloist sophistication and viewed his own recordings extremely skeptically.
Over the years he increasingly restricted his repertoire and was ultimately considered a Mozart , Schubert and Brahms specialist, a “philosopher” and a “sensibility” at the piano. The critic Harold C. Schonberg ( New York Times ) said that his pianissimo alone was twenty shades.
Daniel Barenboim calls him one of his musical role models.
Web links
- Works by and about Clifford Curzon in the catalog of the German National Library
- Clifford Curzon in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Curzon, Clifford |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Siegenberg, Clifford Michael (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British pianist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 18, 1907 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 1, 1982 |
| Place of death | London |