György Kurtág: Retrato

Through the lens of János Darvas' camera, discover images of a precious master class given by the great György Kurtág, on the occasion of the Bártok Festival in Szombathely in 2000.

Before gaining international recognition for his work Messages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova, unveiled by Pierre Boulez and his Ensemble intercontemporain in 1981, György Kurtág taught at the Franz-Liszt Academy of Music. For some twenty years, he taught piano and chamber music. The composer stands out for his playful pedagogy and ability to inspire his pupils. Driven by the desire to pass on his knowledge, he even went so far as to work on his compositions with future performers, not hesitating to modify the works if necessary. His famous Játékok, a collection of short “pedagogical performance pieces”, are perfect testimony to this. Intended to introduce children to the piano, he has been adding to them regularly since 1973, the year the work was created.