Miklós Perényi was born on January 5, 1948, in Budapest. His father, László Perényi, a student of Zoltán Kodály, worked as a choir conductor and music educator. The choir he led at the Liget Street School in Kőbánya was once visited by Béla Bartók himself, when they were preparing for the premiere of his works for unison choir.
Both of Miklós’s older sisters studied music. His eldest sister, Erzsébet, played the piano and later became a linguist, while Eszter became a Kossuth Prize-winning violinist, Professor Emerita at the Liszt Academy, and a violin pedagogue of great influence across generations.
László Perényi’s favourite instrument was the cello, so five-year-old Miklós began his studies on that instrument. He was taught by Miklós Zsámboki, a student of David Popper, who was both a colleague and friend of László Perényi and jokingly declared even before Miklós’s birth that he wished to become the child’s future teacher.
Miklós began learning on a half-sized cello designed for young students. At first, he studied privately at Zsámboki’s home, but at age seven, he was admitted to the Preparatory Department of the Liszt Academy of Music. His debut concert was scheduled for late October 1956, but the Hungarian Revolution swept it away. At first, young Miklós followed the events from the balcony of their apartment on Kékgolyó Street, but soon the family had to take shelter in the basement, where they remained for a week. The rescheduled concert took place nearly a year later, on November 4, 1957, in the Great Hall of the Liszt Academy. The press at the time already referred to him as the “Hungarian Casals.”
According to Perényi, he has been “on the road” since the age of eleven. Among his early milestones was Enrico Mainardi’s masterclass in Salzburg, which he attended on the recommendation of the distinguished Italian pianist Carlo Zecchi. Following the course, Mainardi invited him to pursue postgraduate studies at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. There, between 1960 and 1962, he studied with Mainardi during the spring and summer terms and earned a diploma. Mainardi, an accomplished pianist and composer, possessed a broad musical outlook that, combined with a repertoire somewhat different from that taught in Budapest, expanded Perényi’s artistic horizon. His Italian connection also led to important concert opportunities, and in 1966, a recording of Beethoven’s works with Carlo Zecchi was released.
Meanwhile, back in Budapest, Zsámboki retired, and from 1960 onwards, Ede Banda took over Perényi’s instruction. Banda, a man of great erudition and remarkable sensitivity as a chamber musician, emphasized to his students the importance of effortless sound production on the instrument.
At the age of fourteen, Perényi needed a full-sized cello. Through Mainardi’s intercession – with the help of Mrs. Géza Anda, the Lucerne Festival, and Walter Strebi, the festival’s director – he was able to acquire an instrument attributed to Gaetano Chiocchi. Only two years later, at the initiative of Mrs. András Barna, one of the most influential figures in Hungarian musical life at the time, the Hungarian state purchased a cello for Perényi made by Johannes Gagliano. It was later discovered that this instrument was most likely an Eastern European copy, yet it remained an excellent cello, especially noted for the beautiful tone of its A string. Jumping slightly ahead in time, it is worth mentioning that Perényi used this instrument for twenty years, then – drawn to the rich tone of the C string – returned to his original cello, before once again reverting to the Gagliano, which he played for another twelve years, until 2008.
When speaking about the early career of Miklós Perényi, two names are indispensable: Zoltán Kodály and Pablo Casals.
Perényi first met Zoltán Kodály in 1955, at the age of seven. According to Perényi’s recollection, the elderly master did not comment much on his playing at that first meeting but rather asked whether he did any gymnastics – and then, at the age of seventy-two, demonstrated a few push-ups himself. Jumping forward in time, 1964 marks the next significant encounter: Perényi performed the Solo Sonata for Kodály, an occasion that was filmed. Shortly afterward, in the final year of his life, Kodály attended two of the sixteen-year-old Perényi’s concerts and, following each performance, spoke to him kindly and encouragingly in the artist’s room.
In 1963, Perényi won the Pablo Casals International Cello Competition in Budapest, which led to his participation in Casals’s masterclass in Zermatt in 1965. From 1966, he studied with Casals in Puerto Rico, and between 1969 and 1972, he attended the world-renowned Marlboro Festival in Vermont, one of the most famous summer music programs. Beyond cello instruction, Marlboro was a hub of intense chamber music activity, and the orchestra – comprising both teachers and students – was often conducted by Casals himself. Until his death at the age of ninety-seven, Casals returned to the festival every summer, referring to Marlboro as “the temple of music.”
According to Perényi, these experiences were transformative, shaking him out of his comfort zone. Casals encouraged him to play with greater dynamism, to pay close attention to the singing quality of tone and the shaping of melodic lines, and to perceive larger musical relationships that he had not previously considered. Pianist András Schiff once remarked in an interview that when he plays with Perényi – and only then – he feels the unmistakable influence of Casals.
Perényi’s student years formally concluded after his studies in Budapest and Rome and the international masterclasses, but his artistic development continued in a different direction: he now learned primarily from composers rather than cellists. Chief among these was György Kurtág, whose influence proved deeply significant.
The knowledge and insight Perényi gained from his exceptional mentors prompted Dénes Kovács, then rector of the Liszt Academy, to invite him to teach there in 1970. Showing great humility, Perényi asked for time, feeling he was not yet ready. He ultimately began teaching in 1974. Over the past fifty years, his class has produced countless distinguished students, both Hungarians and from abroad. Perényi describes teaching as a source of joy, saying that the most rewarding moments occur when, during work with a student, the innermost layer of a piece suddenly reveals itself, allowing both teacher and pupil to glimpse the conditions under which the work was created. In addition to his teaching at the Liszt Academy, Perényi regularly gives masterclasses around the world, and his pedagogical work is internationally recognized.
For Perényi, composition is the most natural complement to cello playing. He began composing regularly at the age of thirty. In the early years, he consulted with composers Balázs Szunyogh and later Péter Eötvös about his works in progress. His compositions include cadenzas for concertos, solo works, chamber pieces, and a larger-scale Chaconne for Ten Wind Instruments. His works are twelve-tone compositions, though they often retain a sense of tonality and harmonic stability. Their pitch organization rests on mathematical structures, while the audible surface is governed by intervallic relationships. Perényi explains his compositional approach as follows: “Even in polyphony, I seek the most favourable and natural connections and intervallic relationships. Composition is a beautiful but time-consuming activity – one must repeatedly work toward each solution. Sometimes new balances and proportional relationships arise that override earlier decisions. After overcoming temporary despair, during the intense process of revision and modification, new and more advantageous directions may come to the fore, guiding the further formal shaping of the piece. The creative process is both a source of joy and a struggle. As the material gradually grows, a kind of transfiguration occurs – a personal bond is formed with what has been written.”
Miklós Perényi performs the cello repertoire in its full breadth and depth, from the Baroque to the contemporary era, encompassing solo, chamber, and concerto works. Among this vast repertoire, certain compositions stand out as touchstones to which he continually returns – above all, the Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach. Perényi has studied these works since the age of nine, when he first learned the G major suite, followed the next year by the D minor, and so on in sequence. He has kept them in his repertoire ever since. Multiple recordings exist, including performances filmed by Hungarian Television that have served as reference points for generations.
Perényi says that he continues to discover new relationships within the Suites, continually striving to synthesize these insights in each new interpretation, revealing as many of the work’s layers as possible. His point of departure is always Anna Magdalena Bach’s manuscript, to which he returns every time – yet always as though he were discovering a newly composed work.
Another composer whose works for cello have accompanied Miklós Perényi throughout his career is Ludwig van Beethoven. Perényi recorded the sonatas twice – first with Dezső Ránki in 1979, and later with András Schiff in 2004. The latter recording, released by ECM, received multiple awards, including the MIDEM Classical Award.
Two 20th-century concertos have become closely associated with Perényi’s name. One is Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto – Perényi performed it under the composer’s own baton, recorded it with conductor György Lehel, and played it twice with the Berlin Philharmonic. Recordings of these performances are available in the Digital Concert Hall archives. The other is György Ligeti’s Cello Concerto, composed in 1966. The opening of the piece – a pppppppp note emerging from the edge of silence and gradually expanding to fill the space – remains unforgettable for those who heard Perényi perform it live.
Numerous premieres are linked to Perényi’s name, including several movements from György Kurtág’s Signs, Games and Messages series. Péter Eötvös’s Concerto Grosso also deserves mention, as Perényi performed its premiere with the composer conducting, again alongside the Berlin Philharmonic.
As mentioned earlier, chamber music holds special importance in Perényi’s artistic life. He has formed duos with many outstanding pianists. Beyond the already-mentioned Carlo Zecchi and Dezső Ránki, it is worth highlighting István Lantos, Jenő Jandó, and Imre Rohmann. His collaboration with Zoltán Kocsis resulted in a legendary concert series at the Liszt Academy and several iconic recordings that remain reference points to this day. Together with András Schiff, Perényi recorded a three-concert DVD series in the Great Hall of the Liszt Academy to celebrate his 60th birthday, featuring the core works of the sonata repertoire. In recent years, Perényi has most often performed with Dénes Várjon. Their repertoire spans Baroque, Classical, and Romantic works, as well as sonatas by French composers (Debussy, Fauré, Honegger, Saint-Saëns, Pierné), works by Czech composers (Janáček, Dvořák, Martinů), and pieces by nearly all the major Hungarian masters (Bartók, Kodály, Dohnányi, Veress, Weiner, Ferenc Farkas, and others). They have performed together in many prestigious concert halls, including multiple appearances at London’s Wigmore Hall, one of which was also released on disc.
Another chamber music formation that played an important role in Perényi’s career is the string quartet. The inspiration he drew from his Marlboro experiences was so strong that upon returning home he tried to “untangle” Bartók and Beethoven quartets on a single cello, jumping between voices. Decades later, at the encouragement of András Schiff and Heinz Holliger – directors of the Ittingen Festival – a quartet was finally formed with Perényi, albeit as a temporary ensemble, where he played alongside Gábor Takács-Nagy, Zoltán Tuska, and Sándor Papp. The festival had originally invited the group to perform Bartók’s string quartets, but the collaboration proved so inspiring that they began performing under the name Mikrokosmos. Zoltán Kocsis then invited them to record all six Bartók quartets as part of the Bartók New Series. Working with Kocsis as the project’s spiritus rector and drawing on the latest results of Hungarian musicological research led by László Somfai, they created a benchmark recording of Bartók’s quartets.
Miklós Perényi enjoys recording and now counts nearly seventy releases in his discography. While most of his recordings were released by Hungaroton, he has also recorded for ECM, Decca, and Sony. For him, the microphone is not a source of stress but of inspiration: he draws creative energy from the silence of the studio and finds that recording demands a more concentrated kind of attention than live performance. He prefers to record multiple complete takes rather than rely on editing, continuing until one version meets his ideal of perfection.
Among his recordings – beyond those already mentioned – I would specially note only a few. His three-disc set of Kodály’s works for cello is considered definitive. The Duo recorded with Gábor Takács-Nagy, the piano works featuring the vivid collaboration of Dénes Várjon, and the solo works Capriccio and Solo Sonata are all widely regarded as benchmark performances – not only among cellists but across the entire musical world.
The three albums Miklós Perényi recorded with Zoltán Kocsis are likewise legendary. The first features works by Debussy, Bartók, Fauré, and Kodály; the second includes Brahms’s sonatas; while the third presents live recordings of more than two dozen virtuosic character pieces. These albums were not only acclaimed by critics but also became major popular successes, ranking among Hungaroton’s best-selling classical releases.
Perényi has also made several concerto recordings. With the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer, he recorded Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto. With György Ferencsik and the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, he recorded Strauss’s symphonic poem Don Quixote, and with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra he recorded Haydn’s cello concertos.
Perényi’s musicianship is not easily captured in words. “Many performers strive above all to project their individuality, to present their ‘own’ Bach or Beethoven. That kind of originality may be interesting, but I believe it can easily lead to mannerism. To me, the artist’s individuality reveals itself naturally in the act of playing. I always aim to uncover the work itself. Casals taught me that only the music matters. He never cared about technique – fingerings and bowings were always subordinate to musical expression.”
Indeed, there is no trace of affectation in Perényi’s art. Instead, it is defined by a kind of uncompromising precision and simplicity, combined with flawless technique and supreme musicality – an ascetic, uncompromising perfectionism.
One of the hallmarks of Perényi’s cello playing is his right-hand technique. He never forces the volume, yet his rich, focused tone carries effortlessly to the last row. Among cellists, there is a saying that Perényi earned one of his two Kossuth Prizes for his right hand alone. His bow stroke is typically slow and dense; he produces a full, resonant tone at every moment – never airy, always substantial. He strives to use the entire bow, and his articulation is always highly precise and carefully refined.
His left-hand technique, on the other hand, is entirely “slipless” – no shifts are audible. He produces a uniform quality of sound on every string and in every position. He uses both his thumb and little finger with complete equality, makes no compromises in fingering, and every virtuosic technical solution serves a musical purpose.
It has become commonplace to speak of the accelerated pace of modern life and its effect on the soloist’s career – the tendency toward athletic perfection and the cool, mechanical precision that often comes with it. For Perényi, however, such concerns are irrelevant. His goal has always remained the same: to evoke the depths of music and the spirit of the composer. The path toward that goal lies through profound study, understanding, and analysis of each work. And beyond all this, good concerts require extensive rehearsal. Perényi described his concert routine as follows: “If a concert starts at 7:30, I arrive at the venue by six. One hour before going on stage, I have already finished rosining my bow, because I need that final hour of quiet. That’s the time I use to review the program once more or to play through certain passages.”
All of this perfectly reflects Perényi’s personality – a man who never puts himself in the spotlight and never promotes himself, regardless of contemporary expectations. He is modest, humble, yet entirely purposeful, a person who cannot be tempted into compromise.
In every interview, Perényi speaks enthusiastically about his current projects and goals. He continues to travel the world, constantly encountering new challenges and learning new works. When not engaged with music, he enjoys being in nature or reading. By his own admission, he is now more drawn to poetry than to long-form epic literature.
[2024]