Dezső Ránki

Dezső Ránki (born 8 September 1951) is a Hungarian virtuoso concert pianist with a broad repertoire and a significant discography of solo, duo and concerto works.

Life and career Born in Budapest, he began taking piano lessons at the Budapest Academy of Music at the age of eight. When he was thirteen, he enrolled at the Budapest Conservatory and from 1964 to 1969 was a pupil of Klára Máthé. Subsequently he studied from 1969 to 1973 at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, with his mentors Pál Kadosa and Ferenc Rados. Among his classmates were renowned pianists András Schiff and Zoltán Kocsis. With Kocsis he featured in two Hungarian documentaries, on the Budapest Symphony Orchestra tour of the US 'Tizenhatezer Kilometer... A MRT Szimfonikus Zenekara Amerikaban' (1971), and 'Kocsis Zoltán es Ránki Dezső – Kettős Arckép' (1976) 'Kocsis Zoltán and Ránki Dezső – Double Portrait'.

From the time Ránki won first prize at the Robert Schumann International Competition in Zwickau,

He has played with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the Orchestre National de France under such conductors as Sir Georg Solti, Sándor Végh, Lorin Maazel, and Zubin Mehta. He was awarded twice the Kossuth Prize, the highest cultural award in Hungary. He has been a professor at the Ferenc Liszt Academy in Budapest. Beethoven : Sonata No.8 C-Moll, Op. 13 'Pathétique', Sonata No.24 In F Sharp Major, Op. 78, Sonata No.21 In C Major, Op. 53 'Waldstein' (Hungaroton, 1971) Mozart : Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K448 / Ravel Ma Mère l'Oye / Brahms Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56b with Zoltan Kocsis (Hungaroton, 1973) Mozart : Concerti for Two and Three Pianos, with Zoltán Kocsis, András Schiff, Hungarian State Orchestra, János Ferencsik (Hungaroton, 1973) Schumann : Carnaval / Waldszenen (Hungaroton, 1973) Schubert : Wanderer Fantasie, Klavierstück in E♭, Piano Sonata in G (Hungaroton, 1974) Schubert : Sonata in B-Flat Major, Impromptus (Denon, 1975) Bartók : Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, with Zoltán Kocsis, Ferenc Petz, József Marton (Hungaroton, 1976) Mozart : Complete Keyboard Solo Music (Hungaroton, 1976) Bartók : Mikrokozmosz, For Children (1908–1909) (Hungaroton, 1977) Debussy : Images I-II / Children's Corner / L'Isle Joyeuse (Hungaroton, 1977) Liszt : Dante Sonata (Hungaroton, 1978) Mozart : Sonatas for Piano Duet (complete) with Zoltán Kocsis, (Hungaroton, 1978) Mozart : Piano Concertos: No. 9 & No. 14 (Hungaroton, 1978) Stravinsky : Három Tétel A Petruskából / Piano-Rag-Music / Tango / Szerenád A-ban / Szonáta (Hungaroton, 1979) Schumann : Kinderszenen Op.15 / Fantasy Op.17 / Arabeske Op.18 (Hungaroton, 1979) Beethoven : Sonatas and Variations for Cello and Piano (Complete) with Miklós Perényi (Hungaroton, 1979) Mozart : Piano Quartets KV 478 & 493, with the Éder Quartet (Telefunken, 1979) Brahms : Piano Quintet in F Minor. Op. 34, with the Bartók Quartet (Hungaroton, 1980) Weiner, Strawinsky, Bartók, Schumann, Verdi, Debussy (works for clarinet) with Kálmán Berkes Chopin : Preludes (Hungaroton, 1982) Lieder by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, Wolf (Hungaroton, 1982) Brahms : Horn Trio / Beethoven Horn Sonata / R. Strauss Andante with Ferenc Tarjáni, Gábor Takács-Nagy (Hungaroton, 1983) Ravel : Sonatine, Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Gaspard de la nuit, Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn, Prelude (Hungaroton, 1984) Brahms : Intermezzi op.116–119, Ballades op.10, (Harmonia Mundi France, 1994) Bartók : Piano Concerto No. 3, Three Burlesques, Allegro Barbaro, Suite Op. 14 (Hungaroton, 1994) Satie : Socrate, Liszt Via Crucis with Edit Klukon, (Budapest Music Center Records 2005)

Awards 1972 Grand Prix du Disque for Chopin recital (1971) 1973 Liszt Prize 1978 Kossuth Prize 1982 Art Prize of City of Budapest 1984 Merited Artist 1988 Bartók-Pásztory Award 1990 Excellent Artist 2005 Prima Primissima Award 2006 Bartók Memorial Award (Herend) 2007 For Hungarian Art 2008 Kossuth Prize