Reception of the Young Ernő Dohnányi: The Background of His Successes During His First Tours to England and America

Abstract

This article reveals the background of the young Ernő Dohnányi's successes as a pianist and a composer, through the investigation of all available press articles, concert programs, letters and other contemporary documents, to make a step to create an authentic image of Dohnányi. October 24, 1898, the day of Dohnányi's debut in London, marked a decisive turn in the artist's career. After concerts in Hungary, Vienna and Germany he came into the focus of attention of wide audiences by playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto in G major at the London St James's Hall. The warm reception and the sensational news in the press launched a chain reaction of invitations and Dohnányi's international career. His first England tour (October-December 1898) was followed by two further tours within a year (January-March and October-December 1899, respectively) and his series of successes was crowned by these two tours of America (March-April 1900, November 1900 - March 1901). In the meantime he acquired fame as a composer as well: with his Piano Concerto in E minor (op. 5b) he won the Bösendorfer Competition in Vienna in March 1899 and the three-movement version of the work (op. 5) was performed several times in Hungary, England, Germany and the United States. His String Quartet (op.7) was performed in London, his Sonata for Violoncello (op. 8) in London and New York. His piano pieces (op. 2, 4, 6) - just as the piano parts of his Quintet (op. 1) and Concerto - were played by him several times. The promising, yet unknown youth at the beginning of his career turned into an internationally acknowledged and appreciated artist within three years.