Death of a great American pianist, 95
RIPThe death has been communicated of Byron Janis, one of the most respected pianists of his century.
A student with Vladimir Horowitz in his teens, Janis excelled at playing Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev, while reserving a lighter touch for Mozart and Chopin.
His wife, Maria, was the daughter of the screen actor Gary Cooper.
He retired early with arthritis in his late 60s.
Byron’s Prokofiev 3 with Kondrashin conducting was the benchmark of the concerto. A long life, he will be remembered for his old school playing and recorded legacy. Watch the videos of his early career. He was one of Adele Marcus’s pupils until he played for Horowitz.
Yes! That Prokofiev is amazing!
One of the greatest pianist is gone, but his recordings will be in our lives forever. I am very fortunate to have studied with him, after my Juilliard years. Even after I thought I knew how to play the piano! ( We are never done with learning to play piano…) With him you learn to listen beyond the notes, to find the colors , you learn to listen to yourself, to find meaning in every note you play. Thank you Janis for your artistry.
“Life is impossible sometimes, isn’t it”, I grumbled.
“Yes it is, but you see,” he replied, “that’s fun. That makes it worth living.”
Now, as then, words fail me.
Rest in peace now, in the other world where your heart has always been.
Sad news. I treasure his recordings with the Boson Symphony with Munch and Leinsdorf.
I’m not aware of any recordings he made with Leinsdorf – were you perhaps thinking of Dorati?
Opus. You are correct about Leinsdorf. In a senior moment I ,for shame, confused Janis with John Browning’s magnificent (IMO) recordings of the Prokoviev Concerti with Leinsdorf.
Byron was like a musical comet! His electric energy, passionate lyricism and extraordinary pianism were simply elect in every way. Perhaps the most inspiring memories I have of him are all the health challenges he overcame in his life. His struggle with arthritis was probably his greatest challenge, yet he always gave hope and encouragement to those that had similar struggles.
When I was a student in Los Angeles, my teacher at the time sent me to New York to play for Adele Marcus. Her reason was she wanted me to have training in the great old school of piano playing.
She had heard Byron Janis a number of times and found out that his teacher from 9 years of age to 15 was Adele Marcus who taught at Juilliard. As students we all heard about Byron from Miss Marcus and what an extraordinary student he was when he was very young only to blossom into one of the great great pianists of the 20th and 21st century.
I shall always be indebted to him as he has always felt like part of a musical family I have had the privilege to be a part of.
He will be dearly missed, but his legacy will live on. May his memory be a blessing. Wishing his wife Maria great comfort during this difficult time.
To clarify the record, Ms. Marcus did teach the young Byron Janis but, from age 16, he spent 4 years studying with Horowitz. Ms. Marcus has stated in interviews that Horowitz basically erased all the qualities that she felt she had instilled in Janis. Certainly none of her other students resembled Janis in any way.
Today is a very sad day for me. I just learned about the passing of the great American Pianist Byron Janis. I grew up as a small child listening with headphones to his Mercury and RCA recordings. His performances of Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Schumann and so many others are among the best ever recorded. I remember imagining myself playing like that someday. I would go to another world full of beautiful, glorious music. Fast forward to 1994. I make it to the finals of the Pro Musicis Award, the finals are at Merkin Hall in NY and Byron is a judge. He and his beautiful wife Maria Cooper Janis were on the board of Pro Musicis. I walk out on the stage and I play my audition and as I walk away from the piano these words just flew out of my mouth. They weren’t planned it was completely spontaneous. I said from the stage, “Mr Janis I want you to know that even if I don’t place it is an honor just to play for you. I have admired you since I’ve been 10 years old.”
I won the award and was presented in Europe and the United States. Before my NY debut Byron opened up his Park Ave. home and coached me on my repertoire for Weill Hall. He didn’t charge me a cent. Through the years Jan and I have had many wonderful times with Byron and Maria. Can you imagine how honored I was when he came to my New York Debut at Weill Hall?
When we played Mozart together at Alice Tully? He asked for me. Moves me to tears. The visits we had at their lovely home on Park Ave. in NY. Maria even let me hold her father’s Oscar for High Noon. As many of you know I’ve been very sick this past two years and Byron would call me and tell me that I must not ever give up. He worried about me and every time he called I felt better and thought how lucky that this genius, this legend was worried about little old me. He suffered greatly in his life from pain and depression but Maria was always by his side taking care of him. So devoted and loving to each other. It was beautiful to see. Through all of his pain he always tried to see the light and not lose his humanity and love. He wouldn’t feel well on most occasions but when he went to the piano and started to play his problems and pain would go away. What an inspiration. He’s been on my mind this week and I was going to call both Byron and Maria and tell them I’m starting to emerge from the darkness. Today I heard through The Piano Files with Mark Ainley that he passed away. I started to cry but then thought what a life he had and how lucky that he and Maria touched mine. Byron you will be loved the world over for generations. You live through your music. You touched and brought beauty around the world. You were a genius, a great artist and a beautiful soul. Thank you for giving us all and sharing with us the gift of your humanity, music, brilliance and artistry. We will never forget.
Such a beautiful tribute. Condolences to you.
What a wonderful obituary. What incredible friends to have had. May I humbly suggest that the best you can do now in his memory is LIVE LIFE TO THE FULL!
Depression is the invisible burden that so many of us suffer from. Maybe write a book or article about your life with him? A worthy tribute. I wish you well.
It was one of my greatest honors to study with Byron Janis, one of the very greatest musicians of the 20th century. Many will write in to extol his genius as a pianist and his incredible performance legacy. To all of that I will simply add here, that he was an inspired pedagogue, a man of integrity and dedication, and an artist whose devotion to truth and excellence shone in every fibre of his words and creative activity. In celebration of a long and accomplished life, thank you always, Byron Janis.
I’ll be listening, in remembrance, to those wonderful recordings he made with Antal Dorati on Mercury Living Presence. His memoir, Chopin and Beyond, is fascinating to read. The patterns and synchronicity of life are such that they cannot always be derogatorily dismissed as woo-woo by those who are more scientifically inclined, especially if it involves music. I never knew, before reading Byron’s book, that Boris Chaliapin (Feodor’s oldest son) was best man in his wedding and that Byron established a friendship with the nun, Dolores Hart, who acted with Elvis Presley in film during her previous career as an actress.The Maestro seemingly had a humane and multi-faceted life with all its ups and downs. R.I.P., maestro of the piano.
What a great artist and human. His Mercury recording of the Rachmaninoff 2nd concerto is my go-to CD despite the competition. RIP.
I didn’t even realize that Byron Janis was still alive until his recent passing. I had so many of his album reissues on cassette when I was growing up. You’d best believe Fritz Reiner wasn’t going to record Strauss with any pianist he didn’t believe was absolutely top notch. R.I.P. to a true and underrated great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCAZrVvn3cg&t=2s
Not underrated. While not a household name, for at least the last 50 years Janis has been a connoisseurs’ choice. Look at the outpouring of respect and admiration in this blogpost’s comments.
The Rachmaninoff is an example of the creative aspect of music-making. In the earlier days of Janis’s career, many characterized his performances as playing “too freely,” meaning erractic tempos, etc.
I was transfixed as I listened to the video.
He may have “taken liberties” but they were the kind that makes the performance to inspiring. Horowitz did this, as well, and who takes issue with Horowitz? It’s the unexpected, instead of competition-level blandness and predictability, which gives the listener so much emotional resonance. This kind of playing is sorely missed in a world of AI blandness and conformity.
One of the all-time greats. He died just 10 days shy of what would have been his 96th birthday.
As a boy growing up in Los Angeles, my parents were anxious to get me interested in great music, so they took me to concerts, including a symphony concert in Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, with Mr. Janis playing the Rachmaninoff Paganini Rhapsody. I was around 10, but I was transfixed. I’ll never forget how he gave a little smile at the audience with that quiet joke ending that made my parents – and me – burst out laughing. I was hooked. Music became my lifelong love.
+1,000
When I was a kid I had the vinyl LP of the Rachmaninov III with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony.
Listened to it constantly until I wore the disc out. Now whenever I hear another version of the Rach 3 it sounds ‘wrong’ even when it’s right, lol.
I’m glad this great artist lived a long life.
I always thought it so heartless of RCA to delete the Janis Rach 3 with Munch (recorded in December of 1957) shortly after Van Cliburn’s Rach 3 (recorded live
in May of 1958) came out. The Janis was reissued several years later on Victrola, while Cliburn’s never went out of print.
So sorry to hear of this. I loved the recordings I heard. He was a beautiful pianist. Condolences to the family.
Heard him play Rachmaninoff 3 at Ravinia in July,1963 with Hendl/CSO
– a transformative experience. Later had the good fortune to be in the orchestra when he played Prokofiev 3 with Long Island Philharmonic and was able to thank him. R.I.P.
I am definitely not alone in wishing I had your precious experiences with the great Byron Janis.
Worked with Byron during my early years with the Minnesota Orchestra ( 1966-72) and then with the Oregon Symphony (1972-78 ) . Byron was a great artist and a man of many interests . It was a pleasure to be with him and Maria.