László Fenyö

Mstislav Rostropovich described Kronberg im Taunus as the „cello world capital“ – and this is the very town where László Fenyö gained entrance into the cello elite. In September 2004, he not only won First Prize at the Pablo Casals World Contest, but also received a special prize for the best first performance of Graziane Finzi´s Variations, composed specifically for the contest.

In Hungary, his home country, László Fenyö has been one of the most popular soloists lately. Most of his concerts – around twenty per year – are recorded or broadcast live by the Hungarian Radio, whether solo performances, chamber music evenings or concerts with a grand orchestra. The 33-year-old musician has already played with all major Hungarian ensembles. Additionally, in March 2005 he received the highly prestigious Franz-Liszt-Prize as a state award.

He started his musical education in Hungary. He was only 13 years old when in 1988 he was accepted at the Franz Liszt Music Academy, Budapest, from his local music school. Between 1994 and 1998, he studied in Lübeck under the instruction of David Geringas. He expanded his horizon at master courses with Miklós Perényi and Siegfried Palm, among others. At present, his mentor is Bernard Greenhouse, the doyen of chamber music.

His unusually wide repertoire ranging from Bach to Krenek and Haydn to contemporary composers, his accurate sense of style, and his technical brilliance are responsible for his long record of successes at different contests. As early as 1987, he won First Prize at the Hungarian National Cello Contest; then he achieved success in Paris, Budapest and Christchurch; he earned the Pierre Fournier Special Prize in Geneve, and in Kronberg he also managed to convince the illustrious jury, consisting of renowned members like Rostropovich, Natalja Gutman, Kurt Masur, and others.

His rich orchestral experience and the delight of re-discovering rarely played solo pieces bring his musical profile to a whole. After having the principal cello position by the Radio Symphony Orchestra Budapest and the Philharmonia Hungarica, he is at present principal cellist of the Radio Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt (Germany). He is regular guest on all important stages in Europe, the USA, in Asia, as well as at major music festivals, such as the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, where he played together with Leonidas Kavakos and Boris Berezowski.

László Fenyö plays a Matteo Goffriller cello of year 1695.