Born: June 1, 1923 - Birsfelden, near Basel, Switzerland
Died: September 2, 2006 - Chernex, Switzerland

The esteemed Swiss pianist and pedagogue, Karl (Rudolf) Engel, was a student of Paul Baumgartner at the Basel Conservatory from 1942 to 1945. After World War II he studied with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de Musique in Paris in 1947-1948. In 1952 he won 2^nd prize at the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition in Brussels.

Karl Engel toured internationally as a soloist with orchestras, a recitalist and a chamber music performer. He became particularly known for his complete cycles of Mozart piano sonatas and concertos, and the L.v. Beethoven piano sonatas. His performances of complete piano works of Robert Schumann during the 1970's were highly estimated. He also distinguished himself as an accompanist, often appearing in Lieder recitals with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hermann Prey, Peter Schreier and Brigitte Fassbaender. Among his chamber music partners were the cellist Pablo Casals and the violinist Yehudi Menuhin. .

From 1958 to 1986 Karl Engel was Professor of piano at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany. Since 1989 he led master-classes in his homeland and abroad.

Karl Engel recorded the complete piano music of Mozart and of Robert Schumann.

Source: Playbill Arts Website; German Wikipedia Website, English translation by Aryeh Oron; Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997)
Contributed by Teddy Kaufman & Aryeh Oron (April 2007)

Karl Engel: Short Biography | Recordings of Instrumental Works

Links to other Sites

Swiss Pianist Karl Engel Is Dead at 83 (Playbill Arts)

Karl Engel (Wikipedia) [German]