István Kertész (1) (1929–1973)

Istvan Kertész was born to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary. His parents were Margit (Muresian) and Miklós Kertész, the director of a leather-works, and he had a younger sister, Vera. He had a great affinity for music at an early age and began violin lessons at age six. Kertész's father died in 1938 and his mother went to work to support the family. By age 12, he began to study the piano and composition in addition to the violin. Before World War II, along with his sister, he took advantage of Budapest's rich cultural life and attended symphony or opera performances almost every evening. When Nazi Germany sent troops to occupy Hungary in 1944, the family went into hiding. Most of Kertész's extended family were deported to Auschwitz and did not survive the Holocaust. Kertész continued his musical studies despite these conditions. After the war, he resumed his formal education and graduated from gymnasium (high school) with honors in 1947. That same year, he won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music, now the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he studied violin, piano, and composition with Zoltán Kodály, Leó Weiner, and Rezső Kókai. Developing his particular interest in conducting, Kertész became a student of János Ferencsik and László Somogyi. At the academy, Kertész also met his future wife, lyric soprano Edith Gancs, whom he married in 1951. She later changed her name to Edith Kertész-Gabry. Kertész made his debut as a conductor with an all-Mozart program in 1948. In 1953, he was chosen as chief conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra at Győr, a post he held for two years. During this period, he developed a broad symphonic repertoire, leading the Budapest Opera Orchestra from 1955 to 1957, and working as an assistant professor of Conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. After the failed Hungarian Uprising in 1956, Kertész left Hungary with his young family. He was offered a fellowship to the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where he studied with Fernando Previtali. After completing his studies, Kertész began an illustrious career leading many of the world's greatest orchestras, from the Cleveland and Chicago Orchestras to the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic. He made his British debut with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 1960 and his USA debut during the 1961–1962 season. He also began an association with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in 1962, eventually conducting more than 378 compositions with the group over an 11-year period. Kertész was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1965 to 1968, and made guest appearances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. During this time, he made recordings of the nine Dvořák symphonies, which included the first complete recording of the Symphony No. 1. In 1966, he recorded Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle with Christa Ludwig singing the role of Judith and Walter Berry in the title role. Kertész's interpretation of this difficult, brooding work is considered by many to be the benchmark performance of the opera. In April 1973, while on a concert tour, Kertész drowned while swimming off the coast of Herzliya, Israel. His legacy lived not just in his recordings and performances, but also in the countless musicians he inspired and the audiences he moved.