Canadian pianist rushed to hospital in mid-recital
mainThe Austrian-born Canadian pianist Anton Kuerti was helped off stage in Florida last night after meandering and repeating passages during a Beethoven recital. A medical emergency was identified and he was taken by ambulance to hospital.
Here’s an eyewitness account from our friends at South Florida Classical Review:
Kuerti’s growing disorientation and numerous stops and starts during the second of the Eleven Bagatelles, Op. 119, signaled clearly to the large audience that something was terribly wrong.
Santiago Rodriguez, professor of keyboard performance at the Frost School of Music, gently approached Kuerti mid-piece, and eventually succeeded in coaxing him off the stage to a standing ovation.
Anton Kuerti is a great artist. Hope he will soon recover from this hitch and come back to stage.
Kuerti is a great pianist and a great man. He came to Juilliard in 1995 to speak at a seminar for piano majors. He is a man who plays with individuality and intensity–yet is deeply respectful of the score and its content. Get well soon!
I first heard him in the ’60s as part of the Marlboro Trio and saw his son conduct at Tanglewood. I hope he’s okay.
One can only endorse the thoughts of the 2 correspondents preceding. Kuerti is a provocative pianist and an absorbing interpreter of Beethoven, in particular. We must all hope that this was only a passing illness . . . .
A very fine pianist indeed. I wish him a speedy recovery.
May he get well soon. His recording of Schumann’s Humoreske is on my MP3 player and deserves to remain on it or a long time to come.
Very sad news. Are there any updates as to the state of his health?