Eugene Zádor

 

Eugene Zádor
1894-1977

I am always amazed at the lengths of some historical figures' lives. Take Eugene Zádor. Not only did he witness the Turn of the Century as a youth, he lived through two World Wars, and could have seen and heard Star Wars. Imagine the societal and commercial changes one could witness across Zádor's life.

While Zádor is usually first associated with film and Hollywood, notably after escaping Nazi Germany, like many other silver-screen composers of his time, film music was a way to make ends meet and supply revenue for 'serious' composing. Such a story is quite familiar in the 20th Century, akin to that of Korngold, Rózsa, and Herrmann.

Luckily, Naxos, Mariusz Smolij, and the Budapest Symphony Orchestra MÁV dedicated themselves to bringing Zádor's concert music to the modern listener. I think I count eight recordings which I will be covering on this blog from Naxos, perhaps with more to come in the future.

Recordings and reviews currently on hand
(Click orange links to visit a musing):

Recordings

2012: Children's Symphony & Five Contrasts
2013: Divertimento
2015: Dance Symphony
2016: Biblical Triptych
2018: Plains of Hungary
2020: Sinfonia Technica
2023: Celebration Music
2024: Piano Quintet

 

Additional note
 
I had placed Zádor's music between that of Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara and British composer Sir William Walton in my most recent listening rotation. I originally thought Zádor's filmic lightness would break up the modernity of the other two composers, however, it ended up the Hungarian composer had his own brand of modernism, influenced by Bartók and Rózsa. Suffice to say, Rautavaara and Walton's music would have offset each other well enough, nevertheless, inserting the music of Zádor simply added yet another dimension to the genre of 20th Century orchestral works.