„Spielen Sie Stockhausen wie Beethoven“

Among the great pianists of the 20th century, Aloys Kontarsky was one of the most versatile. He was an outstanding interpreter of New Music - he regarded the term "advocate of the avant-garde" as an honorary title, and the work of Stockhausen, Zimmermann, Kagel and numerous other contemporary composers is inextricably linked with his name; many works were written especially for him and dedicated to him.
Together with his brother Alfons, he formed the leading international piano duo for almost three decades. "The brothers are brilliant", Eduard Erdmann had already euphorically remarked when they were still studying with him. The precision and tonal homogeneity of their playing together was unique: "one pianist in two bodies" wrote an enthusiastic American reviewer. The Kontarsky brothers' contribution to the repertoire for two pianos and for piano four hands can hardly be overestimated; it was thanks to them that the repertoire was ready for the stage, so to speak, and it is thanks to them that this instrumentation experienced a new heyday around the middle of the 20th century.
Aloys Kontarsky also achieved extraordinary things as a soloist in rarely performed works such as Reger's Piano Concerto and as a chamber musician, and last but not least he was a sought-after and influential teacher as a lecturer at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music and as a professor in Cologne.
The pianist Jochen Köhler, one of Kontarsky's last master students, paints an extremely lively, multifaceted picture of his teacher. Biographical accounts are supplemented by detailed explanations of Kontarsky's pedagogical work and his position in New Music, as well as a comprehensive appraisal of his artistic legacy. In his own texts and a series of interviews, Aloys Kontarsky himself has his say and provides revealing insights into his work and his thinking.

"Jochen Köhler has succeeded in writing an incredible book, one that reveals the impact Aloys and his brother Alfons Kontarsky had in the music world in their time - and still have today..." Carsten Dürer (Piano 1/24)

"The volume, instructively illustrated and documented, is more than just a biography of performers: it is an impressive overall perspective on an incredibly productive era, not only of new music." Gerhard R. Koch (nmz 6/24)

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