Johanna Martzy

Johanna Martzy
Background information
Born(1924-10-26)26 October 1924
Timișoara, Romania
Died13 August 1979(1979-08-13) (aged 54)
Glarus, Switzerland
GenresClassical
OccupationViolinist
InstrumentViolin
Years active1937–1950s
SpouseBéla de Csillery

Johanna Martzy (26 October 1924 – 13 August 1979) was a Hungarian violinist.

She was born in, Timișoara, Banat, Transylvania,(since 1920)Romania in 1924 and debuted at 13. She toured in the 1940s and 1950s. After that decade her renown in North America, at least, declined and her death from cancer, in Glarus in 1979, was not well noted.[1]

She won 1st prize at Geneva competition in 1947.[citation needed]

Among her chamber music recordings those of Schubert have been thought particularly special.[2]

She was married to conductor Béla de Csillery during much of her period of renown in the 1940s and 1950s, but the marriage was dissolved in 1959.[3]

She was referred to by Glenn Gould in his essay "We who are about to be disqualified salute you," as "an artist who has always seemed to me to be, at least in North America, the most underrated of the great violinists of our age."[4]

  1. ^ "Johanna Martzy (Violin) - Short Biography". www.bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  2. ^ Bose, Sudip (18 January 2018). "The Cult of Johanna Martzy". The American Scholar. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  3. ^ "Obituary: Bela de Csillery". The Independent. 30 April 1996. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  4. ^ Glenn Gould Reader p.253