Zoltan Kocsis (b1952)

Kocsis first recorded for Hungaroton. At the age of twenty-one he recorded some Bach solo keyboard concertos, and over the next few years recorded the concertos for two, three and four keyboards where one of his partners was András Schiff. During the 1980s and 1990s Kocsis recorded for Philips. In 1981 he recorded Chopin’s complete waltzes, a recording whose speed and brilliance is obviously that of a young man. Two years later he recorded the first of a series of discs of Debussy which eventually amounted to most of the solo piano works.

A 1988 recording of Images received glowing praise from The Gramophone magazine: ‘Zoltán Kocsis is certainly one of the most talented pianists of our time and in the two books of Debussy’s Images one can hear him at something like his peak.’ However, these performances, and much of Kocsis’s Debussy playing, are painted in bold oils rather than watercolours and mezzotints, a style that may not suit some listeners. At the same time, the fresh approach Kocsis takes to Debussy, he also applies to Rachmaninov; one of his finest discs is of the Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor Op. 36 coupled with some of the shorter works: préludes, Études-Tableaux and Morceaux de fantaisie Op. 3. The Sonata, played in its original version, is given a performance that is breathtaking in its originality of conception and dazzling in its technique. There is no posturing or sentimentalising; it is, in fact, played in a style closely akin to Rachmaninov’s own. Kocsis also recorded all the works for piano and orchestra by Rachmaninov with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Edo de Waart. These are given bravura, breath-taking readings with fast tempos and incisive and rhythmic playing. As a set, it is one of the best of Rachmaninov’s complete works for piano and orchestra.

Also for piano and orchestra, Kocsis has recorded a fine version of both Liszt concertos coupled with Dohnányi’s Variations on a Nursery Song Op. 25. He plays with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer, and with the same forces has recorded all three of Bartók’s piano concertos as well as completing seven compact discs of Bartók’s music for solo piano. When volume four in this series was reviewed by Rob Cowan he found it to be ‘…unquestionably one of the great piano records of the post-war period’. He also stated, ‘…Kocsis’s mastery of tone, rhythm and articulation, allied to his painstaking attention to important source material, make for a level of pianistic distinction that is fairly unique in this repertory.’

With a discography based on Debussy, Rachmaninov and Bartók, it is evident that Kocsis aims to present certain music in a new light. He has something fresh to say about most of the repertoire he plays and his recordings are all worth hearing for this reason as well as the fact that he does scholarly research into performing editions. His 1984 recording of Bach’s Die Kunst der Fuge was based on the latest research into the ordering of the movements.

Courtesy of Jonathan Summers