Tibor Varga

Varga was born in Győr, Hungary, in the same region that witnessed the birth of Joseph Joachim, Leopold Auer, Carl Flesch as well as of the famous conductor Hans Richter. Young Varga took his first lessons at the age of two and a half with his father Lajos Varga, who was also a violinist. Due to an injury during the War, Lajos Varga had to abandon his projects to be a concert artist and became a violin maker.

Coming to the attention of Jenő Hubay, Varga was enrolled at the Budapest Franz Liszt Academy when only ten years old. There, he studied with, among others, Zoltán Kodály and Leó Weiner. After Hubay's death (1937), Varga was chosen to be the soloist in the memorial concert, playing the 3rd Violin Concerto op. 99 by Hubay under the direction of Ernő Dohnányi, who in 1934 had become Hubay's successor as the Rector of the Liszt Academy. On completion of his musical studies at the Liszt Music Academy, Varga devoted himself throughout the war years to studying philosophy at the Budapest University.

Varga was six years old when he made his first public appearance. At ten, he took on his first solo role with an orchestra, performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto op. 64. At the age of 13, he made his first recordings. At 14, he took on his first concert tours abroad, until his career had abruptly been interrupted by World War II. After the War he continued his concert activities, becoming one of the most prominent soloists. Varga collaborated with eminent conductors such as Ernest Ansermet, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Ferenc Fricsay, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Igor Markevitch, Hans Rosbaud, Georg Solti and others. He performed with the greatest orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra London and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded for labels such as Deutsche Grammophon and EMI. A recording of the Bartok Violin Concerto no. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Ferenc Fricsay as well as his versions of the Violin Concertos by Max Bruch, Mozart, Carl Nielsen, Paganini, Tchaikovsky etc. have become major references of musical interpretation. ...

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