Ilona Kabos

Ilona Kabos (7 December 1893 – 27 May 1973) was a Hungarian-British pianist and teacher.

Kabos was born in Budapest in 1893 (some sources give her year of birth as 1894, 1898 or 1902). She studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music under Árpád Szendy (a pupil of Franz Liszt), Leo Weiner and Zoltán Kodály), and in 1915 she won the Liszt Prize. In the early part of her career, she played for Ferruccio Busoni, who also played for her. She toured widely, giving a number of premiere performances of works by composers including Kodály, Weiner, Béla Bartók, Luigi Dallapiccola, Roy Harris, Carlos Chávez and Mátyás Seiber. She made her American debut in 1951. She taught at the Royal Budapest Academy of Music from 1930 through 1936.

Kabos was married to fellow Hungarian pianist Louis Kentner, and they made their home in London. It is claimed that her pianism was superior to that of his. In November 1942, Kabos and Kentner gave the world premiere of Bartók's Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra in London. She premiered Robert Crawford's Six Bagatelles, Op. 3 (1948).

Kabos' marriage ended in 1945, when Kentner left her for Griselda Gould (daughter of British pianist Evelyn Suart and sister of the ballerina Diana Gould, who was Yehudi Menuhin's second wife).

Kabos's greatest legacy is as a teacher of other pianists. She gave master classes, and taught both privately and at institutions such as Dartington Summer School and the Juilliard School (from 1965, at the express invitation of Peter Mennin; Kabos and Rosina Lhévinne often exchanged students).

...
Wikipedia