Egon Petri
Despite his German birth and long residence, Petri came from Dutch stock. His father was violinist Henri Wilhelm Petri, who taught his son the instrument that teenage Egon played in the Dresden Court Orchestra (1899 - 1901) and in papa's string quartet. At age seven, however, he began piano lessons, notably with Teresa Carreño (Louis Moreau Gottschalk's Venezuelan-born protégé). On reaching 20, encouraged by his father's friend Ferruccio Busoni, Petri decided the piano was his lifetime instrument. He became Busoni's pupil and eventually his amanuensis. At Dresden, Weimar, and finally Berlin (where Petri also studied philosophy) he learned from Busoni not only the art of pianism, but an appreciation of Bach and Liszt in particular, the twin anchors in his transatlantic repertoire.
In 1915, Busoni retired to Switzerland for the duration of WWI, and invited his favorite pupil to assist him in editing Bach's keyboard works. By this time, Petri had debuted in Holland, Germany, and England (and was professor of music at the Manchester Royal College of Music for six years, 1905 - 1911). In 1920, Busoni moved back to Berlin, where the Weimar Republic appointed him professor of composition at the Academy of Arts. When Petri came too, Arnold Schoenberg engaged him at the Hochschule für Musik (1921 - 1926), where his scholarship students included Victor Borge from Denmark. Canadian pianist Gunnar Johansson was another. For many years Petri also taught master classes at the Basle Conservatory. In 1921, he joined Busoni in a concert of two-piano music at London, and in 1923 became the first foreign-born solo artist to perform in the Soviet Union, so successfully that he played 31 concerts in 40 days.
Petri took up the cause of his mentor's music, including the Brobdingnagian Piano Concerto with chorus and orchestra. At the same time he proselytized on behalf of Liszt (already out of favor intellectually; his importance and influence were not reevaluated until after WWII), and Bach of course, in Busoni's editions and transcriptions. In 1927, Petri moved to Zakopane, Poland, where he lived until 1939. His U.S. debut came when he already was 51 -- in NYC on January 11, 1932 -- followed by touring.
His recording career did not begin until 1929, nor with an orchestra until the prewar London Philharmonic, conducted by Walter Goehr (in the Tchaikovsky First Concerto) and Leslie Heward (Liszt's Second and the Fantasy on Beethoven's Ruins of Athens). Stateside, Petri recorded Rhapsodie espagnole with Mitropoulos and the Minneapolis Symphony, but otherwise, only solo repertory or chamber music (Brahms' D minor Sonata in 1937 with Szigeti is legendary). Fortunately, an all-Busoni program in 1941 by Mitropoulos and the NYP was broadcast with Petri playing the Indian Fantasy.
When WWII threatened, Petri moved to the U.S. where he became pianist-in-residence at Cornell University (1940 - 1946), and then at Mills College in Oakland, CA, until his death. Darius Milhaud had been teaching composition there since 1941; John Cage was in charge of piano accompanying. Petri's notable American pupils included Earl Wild, who has spoken of his teacher's "quiet tone that was never forced...his playing had a long line instead of stopping to suffer over a phrase." In 1957, Petri revisited Europe for the first time since WWII; finding himself forgotten he returned to the U.S. permanently.
© TiVo
Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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The Complete Columbia & Electrola Solo & Concerto Recordings (Recorded 1929-1951)
Classical - Released by APR on 1 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonates pour piano "Pathétique", "Clair de lune" & "Appassionata" (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor "appassionata" Op. 57
Classical - Released by Classically on 7 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Liszt Legacy
Claudio Arrau, Alicia de Larrocha, Raymond Lewenthal, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Egon Petri
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 19 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Egon Petri (1922-1960) (Fryderyk Chopin - Ferruccio Busoni - na Not Applicable)
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Aug 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Rhapsodies, Op. 79, Intermezzi, Op. 117 & Ballades, Op. 10 (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 - No. 1 - Rhapsodies, Intermezzi, Ballades
Egon Petri, Joseph Szigeti, Samuel Lifschey
Chamber Music - Released by Infinity on 3 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B Flat Major "hammerklavier" Op. 106
Classical - Released by Classically on 7 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor "pathétique" Op. 13
Classical - Released by Classically on 7 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Egon Petri joue Liszt (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonates pour piano Nos. 30 & 31 (Mono Version)
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach, Bartók & Brahms: Violin Works
Joseph Szigeti, Béla Bartók, Egon Petri
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on 16 Aug 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35
Classical - Released by Past Classics on 24 Aug 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24
Classical - Released by Past Classics on 18 Mar 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BRAHMS: Paganini and Handel Variations (Petri) (1937-1940)
Classical - Released by Naxos on 31 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B Flat Major "hammerklavier" Op. 106
Classical - Released by Ancien Prodige on 7 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor "appassionata" Op. 57
Classical - Released by Ancien Prodige on 7 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor "pathétique" Op. 13
Classical - Released by Ancien Prodige on 7 Dec 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo