Pásztory, Ditta

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Pásztory, Ditta

Pásztory, Ditta, Hungarian pianist; b. Rimaszom-bat, Oct. 31, 1903; d. Budapest, Nov. 21, 1982. She studied piano with Bartók at the Budapest Academy of Music (1922–23); on Aug. 28, 1923, she became his second wife. Although she subsequently abandoned her solo career, she was encouraged by her husband to appear with him in duo performances. She joined him in the premiere of his Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion in Basel on Jan. 16, 1938, after which they made tours of Europe and the U.S.; they settled in the U.S. in 1940. After her husband’s death in 1945, Pásztory returned to Hungary (1946), where she championed a number of her husband’s piano works on recordings. Her will provided for the establishment of the Bartók-Pásztory Award, the most important annual Hugarian prize for composers and performers.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire