About Jörg Demus
Born on December 2, 1928 in St. Pölten in Lower Austria.
His mother was a concert violinist, his father, Professor Otto Demus, a world-famous art historian.
Jörg Demus took his first piano lessons at the age of six. When he was eleven years old, he entered the ViennaMusicalStateAcademy. Besides his secondary education, which focused on the humanities, he studied piano with Walter Kerschbaumer, organ with Karl Walter, conducting with Swarowsky and Krips, and composition with Joseph Marx. Later he continued his studies abroad, primarily under Yves Nat in Paris and Walter Gieseking in Saarbrücken, but also with Wilhelm Kempff, Arturo Benedetti-Michelangli, and Edwin Fischer.
Aged fourteen, he had his first concert as a pianist in the Brahms Saal of the ViennaMusikverein. In 1950 there followed concerts in London and Zurich, and in 1951 he was on his first extensive tour across South America. His debut in Paris in the Salle Gaveau in 1953 turned out to be sensationally successful, with the Figaro publishing an enthusiastic review by its senior critic Clarendon, titled "Jörg Demus joue et gagne". In 1959 Jörg Demus was awarded the Premio Busoni at the International Pianists’ Contest in Bolzano. Since then, Jörg Demus has performed in almost all musical centres in the Old and New Worlds. After his yearly initial concert in New York he tours the United States, Japan, Asia, Australia, and all of Europe.
For many years Jörg Demus has been a celebrated guest performer in international festivals. He played under Herbert von Karajan, but also with Joseph Krips, Carlo Zecchi, André Cluytens, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Seijo Ozawa, to name just a few. Many of his records were awarded international prizes. So far, his repertoire comprises more than 350 LP’s, CD’s and video tapes, including recordings of the complete piano music of Robert Schumann and Claude Debussy, the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Clavierübung by Bach, the piano concertos by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schumann, as well as numerous works of chamber music and accompaniments of vocal recitals, primarily with Dietrich Fischer-Diskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elly Ameling, and Peter Schreier. Holding master courses in Japan, the United States, Italy, and in his PianoMuseum in the Salzkammergut, Jörg Demus is also a highly renowned teacher.
His collecting historical keyboard instruments over several decades – he has them restored so that they can be played on – inspired numerous of Jörg Demus’ recordings. On the occasion of Beethoven’s 200th anniversary, the composer’s Broadwood and pianoforte built by Conrad Graf resounded under the hands of Jörg Demus at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn. In the Salzkammergut he built his own museum dealing with the history of the piano (Museo Cristofori). His volume of musical essays was published by Brockhaus under the title Abenteuer der Interpretation (Adventures of Interpretation), as well as a book on Beethoven’s piano sonatas. For several years Jörg Demus has also devoted himself to composing, writing sonatas for piano and violin and for piano and violoncello, trios, pieces for solo piano, and a great number of lieder. Currently he is working on an opera, The Fool and Death, based on a text by Hugo von Hoffmannsthal.
1977 awarded the Beethoven Ring of the Vienna Beethoven Society
1979 awarded the Mozart Medal of the Vienna Mozart Association
1981 appointed Doctor honoris causa at Amherst
1986 awarded the Schumann Prize of the Town of Zwickau
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