Recognized as one of the leading violinists of our time, György Pauk was born in Hungary and received his musical education at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest. Before settling in London in 1961, he won first prize at the Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa, Premier Grand Prix in the International Violin Competition Marguerite Long - Jacques Thibaud in Paris and first prize in the International Music Competition of the ARD (German TV) in Munich.
He made his London debut with the London Symphony Orchestra under Lorin Maazel the following year. His programme included a Bartok violin sonata and his interpretation of the composer was to bring him increasing renown from then on. In an outstanding and wide-ranging international career, György Pauk has appeared with the world's leading orchestras and with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Simon Rattle, Bernard Haitink, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Klaus Tennstedt, Leonard Slatkin and Charles Dutoit.
He made his American debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1971 at the invitation of Sir Georg Solti. Since then he has appeared as a soloist with the major orchestras of the United States. In Britain György Pauk has performed with all the leading London orchestras, at the Henry Wood Promenade concerts and at the Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Brighton and Bath Festivals where his concerts are regularly broadcast by the BBC.
Pauk boasts an exceptionally rich repertoire that includes some of the masterpieces of the twentieth century and has given first performances of works by Lutoslawski, Penderecki, Schnittke, Maxwell Davies and Tippett under the baton of the composers. György Pauk's records include a number of award-winning releases and he has received public honours both in Britain and in Hungary, notably the Hungarian Order of the Republic in 1998 for his contribution to music-making throughout the world. He plays the Massart Stradivarius of 1714.
In its review of Bartok's violin sonatas on Naxos, The Strad magazine praised Pauk for his "consistently rich and golden tone," a characteristic that he brings to recordings of Bartok's Violin Concertos, Rhapsodies and Duos, and to the Piano Quintet. György Pauk's recording of Bartok's Contrasts with Kalman Berkes, clarinet and Jeno Jando, piano was a Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice.
August, 2001
