George Hadjinikos

George Hadjinikos (Greek: Γιώργος Χατζηνίκος; May 3, 1923 – November 29, 2015) was a Greek piano soloist, conductor, teacher, and author.

Hadjinikos was born in Volos, Greece in 1923. He began his musical education as a child at the Volos Conservatoire in Greece. After moving to Athens in 1934, he continued at the Athens Conservatoire, graduating in 1943 with a piano diploma and a degree in harmony. During this period, he decided to abandon his studies at the Faculty of Law at the University of Athens and devote himself exclusively to music. After World War II, he continued his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and graduated with piano and conducting diplomas in 1948–1949. He was a recipient of the Lilly Lehmann Medal of the Mozarteum International Foundation. In Salzburg, he met such musicians as Johann Nepomuk David and Paul Hindemith. Hadjinikos had performed several works of Hindemith, including the European premiere in Salzburg of the 2nd version of [Marienleben.

In 1951, Hadjinikos moved from Salzburg to Munich, where he studied with Carl Orff. Their subsequent friendship continued until Orff's death. In Germany, he gave 80 recitals, in co-operation with the American Information Center, following his performance of Aaron Copland's Piano Sonata in its European premiere. In 1952, Hadjinikos first encountered one of Nikos Skalkottas's works, and he subsequently became an authority on the composer. From 1952 to 1957, he lived in Hamburg, where he studied with Eduard Erdmann at the Hochschule für Musik.

In October 1953, Hadjinikos gave the world premiere in Hamburg of Skalkottas' Piano Concerto No. 2 with the NWDR Symphony Orchestra (now the NDR Symphony) under the baton of Hermann Scherchen. For this performance, Hadjinikos received a microfilm with the extremely illegible full score, and had to copy the piano part with a magnifying glass in order to learn his part. This performance caused the BBC to take an interest in the work, leading to its subsequent broadcast and the publication of Hans Keller's article 'Nikos Skalkottas: An Original Genius', and subsequent advocacy by Keller for Skalkottas' music in Britain. In December 1954, he discovered several lost Skalkottas manuscripts in a second-hand bookshop in Berlin, for the Octet, two String Quartets, and the Piano Concerto No. 1. From 1957 to 1960, Hadjinikos lived in France, including a period in Paris. A 1959 tour in the Soviet Union included a meeting with Heinrich Neuhaus, who inspired Hadjinikos in the career direction of teaching.

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