Andre Watts was born just after the war in Europe, on June 20, 1946 in Nuremberg. He was the son of an American soldier stationed in Germany and a Hungarian pianist Aleksandra Gusmits. It was his mother who first taught him to play the piano – the boy decided to give up learning to play the violin earlier, which he started at the age of 4. He also owed to her a special passion for the music of Ferenc Liszt – she often told him how the Hungarian pianist studied diligently and practiced a lot.
Andre Watts is dead. The legendary musician died at the age of 77
After moving to the US, he studied at the Philadelphia Musical Academy. His career was exceptional: he made his first public appearance at the age of 9 when he played Joseph Haydan’s piano concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He also studied with Leon Fleischer at the Peabody Conservatory. He officially made his debut in 1963 at the age of 16 in New York’s legendary Carnegie Hall. He played with the New York Philharmonic under the supervision of the legendary conductor, composer and pianist Leonard Bernstein – the performance was broadcast on television, as it was the final of the Young People’s Concerts competition. Bernstein introduced the young performer to the television audience, saying that the first time he heard Andre play, he turned around.
His inclination was exceptional; when, as a 16-year-old, he replaced Glenn Gould at one of the concerts, he played Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major. He played the cadenza in such a way that musicians from the orchestra also joined the standing ovation. That evening made his fame and talent spread around the world, which resulted in numerous proposals for performances in various corners of the globe. Already in 1964, he won the Grammy Award for the best debut performer specializing in classical music.
In 1966, Watts played for the first time in Europe and performed with the London Symphony Orchestra. A year later, he toured Europe and Asia with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. By the age of 20, he was so popular that he had three seasons planned ahead, with about 150 concerts each. His performance graced the inauguration of Richard Nixon’s presidency in 1969, and in 1973, together with the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra, he traveled to Japan and the USSR.
In the same year, he became the youngest person to receive an honorary doctorate from the prestigious Yale University – we read on page a. Two years later, the same award was given to him by Albright College. In 1976, he was the first pianist in the US to play a recital fully broadcast on national television. He has recorded albums with EMI and Telarc labels. In the early 1990s he also played at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw.
In 2002, it turned out that the musician had a subdural hematoma and required emergency surgery. In 2004, he underwent another surgery – this time the ejected disc prevented him from playing freely with his left hand. After these treatments, Watts returned to form and continued touring. In 2016, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. In 2019, he underwent another surgery – this time the damaged nerve in his left hand was operated on. After more than seven years of cancer treatment, the artist died of the disease at his home in Bloomington on July 12, 2023.
Source: Gazeta
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