Theodor Szántó


Theodor Szántó, also seen as Tivadar Szántó was a Hungarian Jewish pianist and composer.

Life and career

Szántó was born in Vienna, then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His family name was originally Smulevic, of Jewish and Slavic origin. His musical studies were in Vienna and Budapest, and with Ferruccio Busoni in Berlin 1898-1901. He resided in Paris from 1905, Switzerland from 1914, and Budapest from 1921 until his death there in 1934.
Szántó contributed substantially to the rewriting of the piano part of the third and final version of Frederick Delius’s Piano Concerto in C minor, and he introduced this version at a Prom Concert in London on 22 October 1907 under Henry Wood. For these services, Delius dedicated the Concerto to Szántó. He also played the work at the Proms in 1912, 1913 and 1921. This final version has become the standard version, but Delius's original conception has also been recorded.
Theodor Szántó was an early champion of the music of Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók. It was his playing of Bartók's Romanian Dance in 1914 that introduced Arthur Hartmann to the music of that composer. For his part, however, Bartók had little respect for Szántó.
He exhibited an interest in the music of Japan by writing at least three works using Japanese influences.
He also made some piano transcriptions of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Igor Stravinsky, which reveal a virtuoso technique. His complete piano works are recorded by the composer and virtuoso pianist Artur Cimirro for the CD label Acte Préalable
Szanto was considered an important piano teacher. His students included Berta Alves de Sousa in Paris.
Szántó was awarded the Legion of Honour.

Compositions

Original works

Szántó's own original compositions include: