Theodor Szántó, also seen as Tivadar Szántó (3 June 1877 – 7 January 1934) was a Hungarian Jewish pianist and composer.Szántó was born in Vienna, then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His family name was originally Smulevic, of Jewish and Slavic origin. His musical studies were in Vienna and Budapest, and with Ferruccio Busoni in Berlin 1898-1901. He resided in Paris from 1905, Switzerland from 1914, and Budapest from 1921 until his death there in 1934.Szántó contributed substantially to the rewriting of the piano part of the third and final version of Frederick Delius’s Piano Concerto in C minor, and he introduced this version at a Prom Concert in London on 22 October 1907 under Henry Wood. For these services, Delius dedicated the Concerto to Szántó. He also played the work at the Proms in 1912, 1913 and 1921. This final version has become the standard version, but Delius's original conception has also been recorded.

Advertisement Advertisement