Biography
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Born
2 December 1928
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Born In
St. Pölten, Niederösterreich, Austria
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Died
16 April 2019 (aged 90)
Jörg Demus (Sankt Pölten, Austria, 2 December 1928 – 16 April 2019) was an Austrian pianist.
At the age of six, Demus received his first piano lessons. Five years later, at the age of 11, he entered the Vienna Academy of Music, studying piano and conducting. His debut as a pianist came when he was still a student: at the age of 14, Demus played in the Brahms-Saal for the prestigious Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. He graduated in 1945, then 17 years old, after which he continued to study conducting with Josef Krips and Hans Swarowsky. Demus studied in Paris with Yves Nat from 1951 to 1953. In 1953 he studied interpretation further with Wilhelm Kempff, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, and Edwin Fischer, and attended master classes with Walter Gieseking. In 1956 he won first prize at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition.
He was active as a Lied accompanist and a chamber music partner, appearing with such singers as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elly Ameling and Peter Schreier and string players like Josef Suk and Antonio Janigro. He performed widely as a soloist both on modern and on historical instruments and collaborated with Paul Badura-Skoda on the concert platform and in a book on the interpretation of Beethoven's piano sonatas. In 1972 he toured southern Africa with sold out and acclaimed performances in all the major cities. In 1974, Demus performed for the Peabody Mason Concert series in Boston. Demus played Romantic works quite often: among his recordings are sets of the complete piano works of Schumann; he recorded also the complete piano works of Debussy.
Among his students was the pianist Domenico Piccichè.
Demus was also a composer, chiefly of music for the piano, chamber music and songs, composing in a generally conservative style. Recorded works include Schubert Impromptus on the Deutsche Grammophon label; and a recital of chamber music for cello and piano taking their inspiration from the poems of Paul Verlaine and the later music of Robert Schumann.
He received the Mozart Medal of the Mozartgemeinde Wien in 1979.
He died on 16 April 2019, aged 90.
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