Zoltan Kocsis
Hungarian pianist and conductor Zoltan Kocsis died last yesterday afternoon, aged 64. Already last month, the Hungarian National Philharmoinic, whoise Music Director Kocis was, announced that he was suffering from poor health. He had cancelled most of his concerts to rest and recuperate.
Kocsis was born in Budapest on 30 May 1952 and began his musical studies at the age of five. In 1968 he was admitted to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he was a pupil of Pál Kadosa, Ferenc Rados and György Kurtág, graduating in 1973.
Kocsis co-founded the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 1983 with Ivan Fischer and became musical director of the Philharmonic in 1997. « Zoltan Kocsis was a musical giant, one of the rare geniuses, » Fischer said on his Facebook page. « His impact on his whole generation is immeasurable. »
One of Zoltan Kocsis’s major achievements was the recording of the complete solo piano works and works with piano and orchestra of Bela Bartok.
