Artist database

Klára Körmendi studied under Kornél Zempléni and Péter Solymos, and Graduated with distinction from the piano department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest, in 1967. Since 1969 she has been a soloist with the National Philharmonia Concert Agency and frequently appeared at concerts both in Budapest and in the provinces. She enjoyed early success in a number of international competitions, before embarking on a career that has taken her to the major musical centers of Europe, with broadcasts in Vienna, Paris and London, as well as Basle, Cologne, Lausanne and Ljubljana. In 1966 she was one of the prizewinners at the piano competition run by Hungarian Radio, and in 1967 she was placed highly at the International Piano Competition in Munich. In April 1971 she scored great success in Rotterdam at the Gaudeamus international competition for performers, where she also premiered Attila Bozay´s A Couple of Movements, which she later performed again at the ISCM Festival in London and at the Zagreb Biennale. Klára Körmendi has a wide repetoire, and has always shown particular interest in contemporary repertoire, both Hungarian and foreign. Her recordings for Hungaroton include music by Pierre Boulez, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio and Heinz Holliger. For Naxos she has recorded works by Debussy, Ravel and Satie.