Ernst von Dohnányi, one of the greatest pianists who ever lived, was one of the most accomplished and deeply conservative composers of his time. A man for whom the twentieth century, musically speaking, simply didn’t exist, he nevertheless championed such modernists as Bartók, and revolutionised music education in his native Hungary. Rendered penniless and homeless by immediate post-war politics and baseless charges (no evidence has ever been produced), he remade his career in the New World with a resilient vitality reflected in his music. This profile of Dohnányi includes more than an hour of music by the composer. Audio samples are contained in the text: just tap to listen while you read.
