Early 20th-century critics described Dohnányi as more than a virtuoso; he was a "thinking artist" whose performances revealed the work's true intention.
Critical Reception
Johannes Brahms praised Dohnányi's Piano Quintet in C minor, his official Opus 1, saying, "Not even I could have done it better."
Compositional Technique
Dohnányi's Passacaglia in E flat minor is considered a magnificent variation piece that, despite its strict form, is entirely modern and shows the composer's freedom within self-imposed limits.
Composer Biography
Ernst von Dohnányi, a famous composer, pianist, and educator, was involved in a dramatic street incident in 1918 over a child custody battle.
Composer Biography
Dohnányi's father, a mathematics and physics professor and amateur musician, carefully managed his son's musical education to avoid the pitfalls of child prodigies.
Composer Biography
By age seventeen, Dohnányi had already composed 75 pieces, winning second and fourth prizes in a competition sponsored by Emperor Francis Joseph I.
Performer Biography
Pianist Daniel Röhm made a sensation in 2005 by stepping in to perform Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Weimar State Orchestra on only five hours' notice.
