Biography - Ovation Years

Biography - Ovation Years (1941-1968)

Prodigy Years (1914-1940)

Immortal Years (1968-1995)

Soon after World War II began, Hungary was forced to join the Axis Nations in late 1940. The couple fled to Sweden for refuge in 1941, during a concert tour to Scandinavian， and spent their life there until 1946. Some references stating Annie Fischer suspended her career during this time, however it was not true and in fact she did gave many performances (although only within Sweden) and also taught more than ever. There exists a barely five-minute broadcast audio fragment of her playing the Liszt E flat major Piano Concerto on March 9, 1943 with Armas Jarnefelt conducting the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. This was her earliest recording material ever released and the only one that was from the WWII period. [*Please refer to the Discography for this recording]

Annie Fischer never forgot about returning to her home country however it was not realized until 1946. The same year, Aladar was appointed the director of the Hungarian State Opera House and invited Otto Klemperer as the music director. Annie gave concert more extensively in Europe, including virtually all the major cities in Europe: Berlin, Baden-Baden, Cologne, Frankfurt, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart, Vienna, Salzburg, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Copenhagen, Brussels, Basel, Lucerne, Geneva, Amsterdam, Heerlen, Hague, Utrecht, Paris, Brighton, Leeds, London, Edinburgh, Warsaw, Milan, Florence, Bucharest, etc. She only started touring outside of Europe in early 1960s. Her North American debut was on February 5, 1961 in Carnegie Hall where she played Mozart's Piano Concerto No.22, K.482, with George Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. The first US recital was given later the same month in Pittsburgh followed by recitals in New York and Texas. She returned to North America two years later and also gave her Canadian debut in Ottawa with an all Beethoven recital on February 25, 1963. In the 1968 season, she played again with Szell in Carnegie Hall and made her first visit to Australia with successful concerts in Canberra, Adelaide and Sydney.

Annie Fischer started to record commercially in the 1950's and made most of her recording during this period until the death of Aladar Toth. Her critically-acclaimed EMI recordings of the Mozart Piano Concertos had been continuously reissued and regarded as some of her best outputs. Annie Fischer was an iconic artist in Hungary. She was the only person who ever received three times the highest honor for Hungarian artists, the Kossuth Prize, in 1949, 1955 and 1965 respectively. The year 1956, she was among the prestige jury panels of three famous piano competitions: the Queens Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, the Liszt Competition in Budapest as well as the Marguerite Long Competition in Paris. She was also invited to judge the 1966's Leeds Piano Competition. It was probably her most glorious time and she was already a widely recognized great artist. After her Australian tour, she and Aladar enjoyed great moments at their summer house in Balatonakarattya Village near the Lake Balaton. Aladar Toth passed away in October, 1968, only months after their summer vacation. It was a huge loss and sadness in Annie's life that she stopped giving public performance for several months.

Yuan Huang
Nov.26, 2014

(Revised Mar.6, 2016)

1956, Queen Elisabeth Competition Juries

1956, Budapest Liszt Piano Competition
with another jury Alexander Goldenweiser

1966, Leeds Piano Competition Juries

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