Jenő Jandó was one of the most prolific artists in the history of classical music recording. He was also one of its most appreciated and admired. Jenő Jandó was a professor at the Liszt Academy Budapest.
The Hungarian pianist won a number of piano competitions in Hungary and abroad, including first prize in the 1973 Hungarian Piano Concours and first prize in the chamber music category at the Sydney International Piano Competition in 1977. He recorded for Naxos all the piano concertos and sonatas of Mozart. Other recordings for Naxos include the concertos of Grieg and Schumann as well as Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and the complete piano sonatas of Haydn and Beethoven, the complete piano music of Bartók, and a wide repertoire of chamber music. His critically acclaimed recordings of the Complete Haydn Piano Sonatas are available in a 10-CD Boxed Set, released to mark the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death (8.501042).
In many ways, Jenő Jandó defined the approach which Naxos has to its catalogue: innovation, completeness, quality, breadth and availability. To this can be added perhaps the supremacy of the work over the ego of the performer.
Born in Pecs, a quiet town in southern Hungary, Jenő Jandó was taught piano by his mother before undertaking formal study of the instrument at the Liszt Academy, under the nurturing scrutiny of Katalin Nemes and Paul Kadosa. After graduation, Jandó had a series of successes in major international competitions, including the Cziffra and Ciani Piano Competitions, yet he himself believed his professional career really began when he took third prize at the Beethoven Piano Competition at the age of 18.
When Naxos was still in its infancy, the production planners wanted to release a disc of the better-known Beethoven piano sonatas. By chance, a Hungarian company working with Naxos at the time recommended Mr Jandó and sent in a demo tape. The complete Beethoven piano sonatas were then entrusted to Mr Jandó’s capable hands.
Similar to the ease with which he handled the various demanding styles of the solo piano repertoire, Jenő Jandó also excelled when performing with other musicians. His sensitivity to chamber music can be heard in, for example, his recording with the Kodály Quartet of Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet or the Brahms and Schumann Piano Quintets as well as in the highly successful recording of Beethoven’s “Archduke” and “Ghost” Piano Trios.
As an accompanist, Jenő Jandó worked closely with Takako Nishizaki in recordings of the Franck and Grieg violin sonatas and, most notably, in a four-volume set of the Mozart sonatas. His special style of accompaniment also showed itself in Kodály’s Sonata for Cello and Piano as well as in a recording of Dohnányi cello sonatas in partnership with Maria Kliegel.
Explore Jenő Jandó’s extensive Naxos discography and become ever more convinced of the breadth, warmth and humanity of this modern recording phenomenon.
You can also view video clips of Jenő Jandó on YouTube.