Dohnányi’s first tuition in music came from his father who was a cellist, and he then continued his study at the Academy of Music in Budapest. It was here that he studied piano with Liszt pupil István Thomán (1862–1940) and gained his diploma in 1897. After a few months of study with Eugen d’Albert, Dohnányi was ready to make his debut in London under the direction of Hans Richter: it was a great success and was the beginning of a long and successful career as a pianist. Dohnányi was also, of course, a composer. He had received encouragement from Brahms, who arranged for the première of his Piano Quintet Op. 1 in Vienna. After receiving the Bösendorfer Prize for his Piano Concerto Op. 5 in 1900 he was established in both Europe and America as one of the foremost pianist-composers of the day.
The years up to World War I saw Dohnányi teaching at the Hochschule in Berlin at the invitation of Joseph Joachim, a post he held for ten years whilst continuing his performing activities. In 1915 he returned to Budapest and began to shape and reform musical life and education in the city. He taught piano at the Academy of Music, becoming its director in 1919. During the 1920s Dohnányi toured America and Europe, the New York State Symphony Orchestra appointing him chief conductor in 1925. Returning to Budapest in 1928 he was appointed head of piano and composition classes at the Academy. From the late 1930s Dohnányi fought against Nazi oppression, resigning from his post at the Academy in 1941 yet curiously going to live in Austria in 1944. This act damaged his reputation and career, and tours of Britain in 1947 and 1948 did not revive them, although in 1956 he made a successful appearance at the Edinburgh Festival, and recordings of these concerts have survived. In 1949 he emigrated to America, becoming artist in residence at Florida State University.
Dohnányi’s most famous recordings are those where he conducts and plays his own compositions. In 1928 however, he made a recording of a piano concerto by Mozart, something quite unusual at that time. With the Budapest Philharmonic he played and conducted the Concerto in G major K. 453. A contemporary review stated: ‘The pianist is just a little over-eager, I feel; but the spirit and address of the music are well conveyed.’ After that, Dohnányi recorded for HMV from the early 1930s until his last years. Highlights include his own arrangements for piano of Strauss waltzes, and his famous Variations on a Nursery Song Op. 25, which he recorded in 1931 and again in 1956 when he also made two LPs of his own solo compositions, many of which he had played at the Edinburgh Festival that year, for HMV. These did not sell well and are extremely rare today. However, these recordings have recently been reissued on compact disc by APR.
Other notable recordings on LP include Beethoven’s Sonatas Opp. 109 and 110 for Everest, and Dohnányi’s last public recital in Florida was issued on LP by the BBC in the late 1960s. However, a compact disc on the Hungaroton label of live performances from the mid-1950s is disappointing and does not show Dohnányi at his best.
