Hans and Kurt Schmitt

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Hans Schmitt (born November 20, 1924 in Saarbrücken , † August 26, 1995 ibid) and Kurt Schmitt (born November 20, 1924 in Saarbrücken, † November 24, 1992 ibid) were a German piano duo .

Life

Born as twin brothers, Hans and Kurt Schmitt were united throughout their lives as a piano duo, which celebrated its success in the 1950s. In addition, they both worked as piano professors at the Saarland University of Music in Saarbrücken until 1990 .

Hans and Kurt Schmitt received their musical training from 1940 with Fritz Griem . They also had the pleasure of listening to Walter Gieseking , who after the Second World War was a professor at the Saarbrücken Conservatory, the forerunner of what would later become the Saarland University of Music.

After the first solo piano evenings in 1947 and 1948 in the Wartburg in Saarbrücken, which was also home to the Saarländischer Rundfunk at that time, the continuation as a piano duo followed in 1949. The international breakthrough came with winning a prize at the "4th Concorso Internazionale di Musica Gian Battista Viotti" in 1953 in Vercelli (Italy). Concert tours to Cannes, Paris, Sofia, Plovdiv, Milan and Rovereto followed. Munich (studio for new music), Bad Pyrmont (1954, German Tonkünstlerfest) and for the European weeks in Passau (1955).

Musically, the collaboration with Dr. Rudolf Michl, the head of the Saarland Radio Symphony Orchestra, stood out with her doctorate as Dr. phil. in 1965, after completing her musicological studies at the University of Saarland with Joseph Müller-Blattau , she continued her professional career as professors at the Saarland University of Music (1968). Her friendship with the Chopin interpreter Jean Micault is documented in a final recording from 1990.

repertoire

The repertoire ranged from Bach to Zimmermann. However, the two musicians preferred the classical masters Bach and Mozart . The Concerto in C major for 2 pianos BWV 1061a by Johann Sebastian Bach and the Concerto in E flat major for two pianos and orchestra KV 365 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (with the virtuoso Reinecke cadenza) as well as the Concerto in F major KV 242 should be emphasized with her teacher Fritz Griem on the third piano. Hans and Kurt Schmitt interpreted works by Busoni, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Grieg, Hindemith, Milhaud, Rachmaninoff, Orff, Reger and Stravinsky. However, they did not shy away from the works by Paul Arma, Gerd Boder, Pierre Boulez, Hugo Distler, Anton Heiller, Hans Werner Henze, Heinrich Konietzny , Clemens Kremer, Olivier Messiaen, Joseph Robbone, Karl Thieme, Anton von Webern, which are required by the broadcasters and Bernd Alois Zimmermann back.

Recordings

Records

  • JS Bach: Concerto in C major for 2 pianos BWV 1061a, WA Mozart: Concerto in E flat major for 2 pianos and orchestra KV 365 with the Philharmonic State Orchestra Sofia under the direction of Constantin Ilief (recording 1957).
  • Paul Arma: Sept Transparences for 2 pianos, Association of Friends of Contemporary Music, Saarbrücken (recorded 1970).

Broadcast recordings

In addition, numerous recordings have been made with the ARD broadcasters, mainly with the Saarland, Hessian and South German broadcasts, with foreign broadcasters in Basel, Radio Diffusion Française, Paris, Radio Nizza, Hilversum, Dublin, Sofia and in the Vatican. The following recordings should be emphasized:

  • Sergej Rachmaninoff: Suite No. 2 op.17 for 2 pianos (recording 1949)
  • Johannes Brahms: Variations op.9 on a theme by Schumann (K. Schmitt, 1950)
  • Hermann Reutter: Concerto in E flat major for 2 pianos and orchestra in 1 movement op.63 (recording 1955)
  • JS Bach: Goldberg Variations (K. Schmitt, 1966)
  • Olivier Messiaen: Preludes (K. Schmitt, 1967)
  • Paul Hindemith: Ludus tonalis (H. Schmitt, 1969).

Fonts

  • Ferruccio Busoni as a teacher and interpreter of Bach's piano works (Kurt Schmitt, dissertation 1965)
  • Studies on the history and style of the movement for two pianos four hands (Hans Schmitt, Diss. 1965).

Web links