CRAIG SHEPPARD writes:
RIP Béla Siki (February 21, 1923 – October 29, 2020). Wonderful friend, pedagogue and pianist. I first met Béla at the Leeds Competition in 1972, where he was on the jury. Although Béla retired just as I took up my post here at the University of Washington in 1993, we saw him and his wonderful wife, Yolande, socially from time to time. Several years later, when another colleague suddenly decided to retire, Béla was asked to come back and ‘fill in’. It was during those years that I came to know him as a wise and caring colleague, someone with a vast life’s experience to whom I could turn for advice. Béla spoke several languages – indeed, I came down the hall one day, he said something to me in German, and the next five minutes were conducted in that language! He and Yolande spoke her native French at home. Béla was always the gentleman and always the perceptive listener, with a wealth of wisdom and humanity. We will miss him dearly.
Sad news: Béla Siki has died at the age of 97.
Béla Siki was a student in Budapest of Leo Weiner and Dohnányi at the Franz Liszt Music Academy. He moved to Switzerland in 1945, where he studied with Dinu Lipatti, taking 2nd Prize at the 1948 Geneva International Competition. He settled in America in 1965. In 1976 VOX Turnabout released his 1975 version of Dohnányi’s Variations on a Nursery Tune, recorded with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra under Milton Katims, available these days in remastered CD format – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hsX6M5XCS8.