EGON PETRI (1881-1962)
German-born Dutch pianist

Egon Petri was a titan among pianists.  He had a formidable and powerful technique which he combined with a depth of musical understanding resulting in performances of breathtaking beauty.  There was nothing he could not play brilliantly.  Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin Liszt, Brahms, and Busoni were all as mother's milk to him.  I can find fault with none of it.  But if I were to pick one composer over others, I would have to say that his playing of the music of Liszt is nothing short of miraculous.  At Egon Petri's hands, the true genius of the music of Liszt is revealed.  I can think of no other pianist so consistently capable of connecting with the divine in Liszt's music, all too often problematic at the hands of lesser men.

There is none of the over-stylized exaggeration of so many other pianists of Egon Petri's generation; no excessive self expression as if to say, "Listen to this, it is I playing."  The voice of the composer dominates, always, yet he always finds a path to making that voice his own as well.

As a student, Egon Petri received strong encouragement from Paderewski and Busoni.  He went on to stude with Busoni, eventually becoming the latter's disciple.  It was Busoni who encourage him to focus on the music of Bach and Liszt.

Egon Petri was also an excellent teacher.  The list of his students included Victor Borge, Stanley Gardner, Jan Hoffman, Gunnar Johansen, Vitya Vronsky, Eugene Istomin, Ozan Marsh, Grant Johannesen, John Ogden, Ruth Slenczynska and Earl Wild, a number of whom are still among the best known pianists of the 20th century.

These are links to Petri playing Bach, Busoni and Beethoven, and to his playing of concerted works by Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Tchaikovsky and Busoni as well as a Brahms violin sonata with Joseph Szigeti.

Buxtehude  "Now We Thank Thee"

recorded in 1958