Paul Badura-Skoda
Pianist Paul Badura-Skoda was one of the most accomplished and revered pianists of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Through his concerts, recordings, and in his work with youth organizations, Badura-Skoda taught and imparted the knowledge he gained through his lifetime of performing.
Badura-Skoda was born in Vienna on October 6, 1927. As a youth, he studied piano with Viola Thern and Otto Schulhof. In 1948, he graduated with distinction for piano and conducting from the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien and began studying piano with Edwin Fischer, who would be his teacher and mentor until Fischer's death in 1960.
Badura-Skoda's professional career began in 1949 when he performed concertos with conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan. When Fischer grew ill in 1950, Badura-Skoda substituted for him at the Salzburg Festival, leading to wider recognition. This same year found Badura-Skoda begin his recording career, in large part due to a new recording medium, the long-playing record. In 1952, he launched his international performing career with tours of Australia and the Americas. He also toured throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Badura-Skoda made his New York debut in 1953 to a capacity recital audience only familiar with him through his recordings. In 1970, he toured throughout the world performing all 32 complete Beethoven sonatas for the Beethoven bicentennial. Similarly, he toured the world in 1991 performing 140 concerts of Mozart's music.
As his career developed, Badura-Skoda experimented with period instruments with the interest of comparing the sound of historical instruments with that of the modern. He recorded the complete sonatas of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert on modern and period instruments. While he was mostly known for his performances of Viennese classicists, his repertoire extended well beyond to Bach, Brahms, Debussy, and Frank Martin. He and Martin developed a friendship that led to Martin composing two works for the pianist, the Piano Concerto No. 2 and Fantasy on Flamenco Rhythms.
A lifelong friendship with Jörg Demus turned into a successful piano, 4 hands duo. Together, they recorded several albums and performed together in concert. Along with performing together, Badura-Skoda and Demus wrote the book Die Klaviersonaten von Ludwig van Beethoven. Another influential relationship in Badura-Skoda's life was with his wife, musicologist Eva Badura-Skoda. Together, the Badura-Skodas published Mozart-Interpretation and Bach-Interpretation, concerning issues with performing the works of these composers. Paul Badura-Skoda passed away in Vienna on September 25, 2019.
Badura-Skoda's recording career contained a vast number of releases, from the 1950s LPs that launched his international career to complete cycles on multiple period instruments. He recorded for many labels, including Deutsche Grammophon, RCA, and Arcana. In 2019, Badura-Skoda was heard on the album Schubert: Klaviertrios with Boris Pergamenschikow and Wolfgang Schneiderhan, on Gramola.
© Keith Finke /TiVo
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Schubert: Trio pour piano, violon et violoncelle No. 2, Op. 100 (Mono Version)
Paul Badura-Skoda, Jean Fournier, Antonio Janigro
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov & Liszt: Piano Concertos
Paul Badura-Skoda, London Promenade Orchestra, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult, Artur Rodzinski, Hans Swarowsky
Classical - Released by Gramola Records on 17 Mar 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 24, K. 491 (Live)
Paul Badura-Skoda, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Carl Schuricht
Classical - Released by SWR Mediaservices GmbH on 1 Oct 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 / Concerto for 2 Pianos in E Flat Major / Gran Partita / Symphony No. 40
Paul Badura-Skoda, Dagmar Bella, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Wilhelm Furtwängler
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Partitas pour piano, BWV 829 & 830 (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Goethe Lieder
Thierry Félix, Paul Badura-Skoda
Classical - Released by Arcana on 4 Oct 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Les sonates pour le pianoforte sur instruments d'époque, Vol. 7
Classical - Released by naïve classique on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin, F.: Etudes, Opp. 10 and 25 / Mazurka Nos. 36-39 (Badura-Skoda) (1956, 1999)
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 3 Aug 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Paul Badura-Skoda
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 8 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Trio in E major, K.542 - Piano Trio in G major, K.496 - Piano Trio in C major, K.548
Jean Fournier, Antonio Janigro, Paul Badura-Skoda
Chamber Music - Released by Infinity on 26 Jan 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Fantaisie, D. 940 & Introduction, variations et finale, D. 968a (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 29-32
Classical - Released by Genuin on 2 Sep 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chopin: Sonates pour piano Nos. 3 et 2
Classical - Released by naïve classique on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Sonates pour le Pianoforte
Classical - Released by naïve classique on 2 Oct 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart & Schubert: Works for 2 Pianos
Classical - Released by Jube Classic on 20 Nov 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Works
Classical - Released by Gramola Records on 7 Oct 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert : Piano Sonatas Nos. 12, 13 and 19
Classical - Released by Genuin on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scriabin: Piano Concerto
Paul Badura-Skoda, Henry Swoboda, Wiener Symphoniker
Symphonic Music - Released by Infinity on 5 Feb 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 3 and 4 & Violin Sonata No. 23
David Oïstrakh, Berliner Philharmoniker, Paul Badura-Skoda
Classical - Released by Russian Compact Disc on 3 Sep 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Violin Sonatas (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
Classical - Released by Gramola Records on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Scriabin: Piano Concerto, OP. 20
Paul Badura-Skoda, Wiener Symphoniker
Keyboard Concertos - Released by Altair on 15 Feb 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo