Seven Piano Pieces, Op. 11: No. 6, Poco rubato - Andor Foldes

Andor Földes (later Andor Foldes; 21 December 1913 –9 February 1992) was an internationally renowned Hungarian pianist born in Budapest, who later took American citizenship.

Földes studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music with Ernő Dohnányi. On 3 November 1947, he performed Béla Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto on the opening concert of the 18th season of the National Orchestral Association, conducted by Leon Barzin, at Carnegie Hall in New York City. It was the first performance of the concerto in New York, though there had been earlier American performances in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco.

For his service to the reconstruction of the Beethovenhalle in Bonn - for which he gave concerts in New York, London, Buenos Aires, Bonn and other cities – and as recognition for his artistic legacy Andor Foldes was awarded the Grand Service Cross of the German Bundesrepublik in 1964.

In France in 1968 the pianist was honoured with the distinction “Commandeur du Mérite Artistique et Culturel” for his playing of Debussy.

For his recordings of the Bartók piano works the German Phono-Akademie awarded Andor Foldes the German Schallplattenpreis 1982, in the category “Historic Recording”. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.