P A U L B A D U R A - S K O D A
Originally he wanted to become an engineer but luckily he changed his mind. Nowadays, he is applauded in all the world´s great concert halls, from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. He makes extensive concert tours on all continents, plays with leading orchestras and can be found in the recording studios of the celebrated record companies. In either words, Paul Badura-Skoda is one of the most important pianists of our time.
One thing has remained with him from his early professional interests - the desire to 'look behind the scenes', to understand the functioning and the impact of great musical works and, in playing them, to make the preception accessible to others. In this critical appraisal first editions and autographs are compared, the text deviations investigated and historical instruments are used. Not only does he play music, he also reflects on it, producing numerous cadenzas to Mozart concerti and style-sensitive completions of unfinished works by Mozart and Schubert. The musical personality of Badura-Skoda is characterized by complete immersion in music, a passionate search for the essential and a sense of artistic responsibility, but not in a technical or academical sense. 'Paul Badura-Skoda makes us feel something which is rare in a professional musician - that he loves music with every part of his being', a critic once said.
Paul Badura-Skoda was born in Vienna in 1927. His unusual musical talent very soon became came to the fore and was appropriately encouraged. Unforgettable concert performances by Edwin Fischer, Hans Knappertsbusch and Wilhelm Furtwängler during the war strengthened Badura-Skoda's intention to become a musician. The young artist was not only impressed by the remarkable interpretations he heard but more so by the evidence of the ethical power of music they provided - an aspect that he still emphasizes today.
In 1945 Badura-Skoda entered the Vienna
Conservatory. Only two years later he attracted attention when he won the first
prize of the Austrian Music Competition. A scholarship for Edwin Fischer's
master classes in Lucerne was the prize, and also the starting point of the
maestro's friendship, which laid the foundation for Badura-Skoda's artistic
future. A few years later the young pianist became Fischer's assistant, and
after Fischer's death, he continued the tradition of his master classes in
Vienna, Salzburg, Edinburgh and Siena. Even today, Badura-Skoda still keeps
close contact with young artists. Again and again he devotes precious time and
enthusiasm to the strenuous office of jury member in important piano contests
and advises young artists.
No-one who has heard him speak about music with warmth and perception in his
soft Viennese voice, can ever forget it.
In 1949 Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan became aware of Badora-Skoda's outstanding talent. They invited him to play concerts, and practically overnight the young Viennese pianist became a world-famous artist. He made a spectacular debut at the Salzburg Festival; and at his first concert in New York, in 1953, the hall was quickly sold out, something that hardly anyone before him had experienced. This sensational success was repeated a few years
later at his debut in Tokyo. Record companies were not far behind - for years he was the pianist who had the largest number of long-playing records on the market.
Since then, Badura-Skoda has become a regular and celebrated guest at the most important music festivals. The conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler, Joseph Krips, Karl Böhm, Hans Knappertsbusch, Hermann Scherchen, Artur Rodzinsky, Lorin Maazel, Georg Szell, Sie Charles Mackerras, Sir Georg Solti and the violonist David Oistrakh have been among his famous partners. He has recorded a vast repertoire - more than two hundred long-playing records and dozens of compact discs appeared, including complete cycles of the piano sonatas of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.
In the Beethoven Bicentenary year 1970, together with Jörg Demus he played and commented on all the composer's piano sonatas for German Television. Performances of the Beethoven cycles followed in Mexico, Chicago, Paris, Vienna and Barcelona. But Badura-Skoda does not limit himself to play the works of the classical Viennese composers, his repertory ranges from baroque to modern music. Indeed, Badura-Skoda does not agree with narrow specialization. He conducts, composes, works in musicological areas, writes books on music and - collects. Besides a huge archive of autograph microfilm copies and first editions, he is the proud owner of an extensive collection of historical keyboard instruments. It is a unique experience to be shown around this treasury by the owner himself.
1976 the Austrian State honoured Paul Badura-Skoda by the „Österreichische Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst", 1978 Badura-Skoda received the "Bösendorfer-Ring" which was given only to Wilhelm Backhaus before. 1993 the artist was nominated „Ritter de la Legion d’Honneur" and 1997 „Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres".
The artist's intensive concert activities take him regularly to the world's musical centres (Vienna, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Milan, Tokyo, Prague, Chicago, New York, Buenos Aires etc) and to the most important festivals, such as Chopin Festival Warsaw, Carinthian Summer Festival, George Enescu Festival, Estoril Festival, Dubrovnik Festival and Schleswig-Holstein Festival. He is also member of the jury board of important international competitions, such as the Leeds Competition, Concorso Dino Gianni in Milan and Reine Elisabeth in Brussels.