Peter Wallfisch

Hans Peter Wallfisch (20 October 1924 – 10 November 1993)[1] was a concert pianist and teacher, resident in the United Kingdom from 1951 onwards.

Life

Wallfisch was born in Breslau, Lower Silesia, in 1924. In 1938, he emigrated to Palestine; he studied at the Jerusalem Conservatoire, and was later a teacher there. In the late-1940s, he studied in Paris with Marguerite Long.[1] In 1948, he won the first prize of the Béla Bartók Competition in Budapest.[2]

In 1951, he moved to the United Kingdom, and married the cellist Anita Lasker the following year;[1][3] they had a son, the cellist Raphael Wallfisch, and a daughter, the psychotherapist Maya Lasker-Wallfisch.[4]

He performed in Europe and elsewhere. As well as the Classics, he was interested in lesser-known music of different nations; among English composers he was particularly interested in the music of Frank Bridge, and also of Kenneth Leighton, who dedicated compositions to him.[4]

From 1973-91 Wallfisch was Professor of piano at the Royal College of Music. In the latter year, he suffered a stroke which affected his ability to play; so ceased performing in public. He died in London in 1993.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hans Peter Wallfisch Royal College of Music. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  2. ^ Bieliczkyné Búzás Éva. "RÁDIÓFÓNIA" (PDF) (in Hungarian). p. 23. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  3. ^ McKevitt, Greg (27 January 2025). "'It was an escape into excellence': How music saved the life of a teenage Jewish cellist in Auschwitz". BBC Culture. BBC. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Obituary:Peter Wallfisch The Independent, 16 November 1993. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
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