SZOKOLAY, BALAZS

The Hungarian pianist Balázs Szokolay was born in Budapest in 1961, the son of a mother who is a pianist and a father who is a composer and professor at the Ferenc Liszt Academy. He started learning the piano when he was five and in 1970 entered the preparatory class of the Budapest Music Academy, where he completed his studies with Pál Kadosa and Zoltán Kocsis in 1983. He later spent two years at the Academy of Music in Munich, with a German government scholarship.

Balázs Szokolay made an early international appearance with Peter Nagy at the Salzburg Interforum in 1979, and in 1983 substituted for Nikita Magaloff in Belgrade in a performance of the Piano Concerto No.1 of Brahms. He is now a soloist with the Hungarian State Orchestra and has given concerts in a number of countries abroad, including Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Poland, the former Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Czecho-Slovakia. In September, 1987, he made his recital debut at the Royal Festival Hall in London. He has won a number of important prizes at home and abroad, including, most recently, success in the 1987 Queen Elisabeth of the Belgians Competition. He took fourth place in the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1990, when his playing was particularly commended in the British press for its energy and imagination.

Albums featuring this artist are available for download from ClassicsOnline.com
101 CLASSICS - The Best Loved Classical Melodies	8.508004
20 YEARS OF CLASSICAL MUSIC: Naxos Anniversary Collection (Naxos Denmark)	8.570598
A LA DECOUVERTE DU CLASSIQUE	8.550037-38
A TO Z OF CLASSICAL MUSIC	8.555319-20
ANDANTE - Classics for Relaxing and Dreaming	8.556606
BALLADE - Classics Favourites for Relaxing and Dreaming	8.556604
BARTOK (THE BEST OF)	8.556693
BARTOK: Mikrokosmos (complete)	8.557821-22
BARTOK: Mikrokosmos (Selection) / Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71	8.550451
BEETHOVEN (THE BEST OF)	8.556651
BEETHOVEN (THE VERY BEST OF)	8.552105-06
BEETHOVEN: Adagio	8.552240
BEETHOVEN: Best of Beethoven (The)	8.551101
BEETHOVEN: Romantic Beethoven (The)	8.552213
BEETHOVEN: Romantic Beethoven (The)	8.570078
BEST OF NAXOS 2	8.550002
BRIDE'S GUIDE TO WEDDING MUSIC (A)	8.503134
BRIDE'S GUIDE TO WEDDING MUSIC FOR CIVIL CEREMONIES (A)	8.570227-28
CENTRE (THE), Vol. 1	8.554901-02DX
CENTRE (THE), Vol. 2	8.554903-04DX
CHILDREN'S CLASSICS - LULLABY	8.554912DX
CHOPIN : The Best of Chopin	8.551104
CHOPIN: Famous Piano Music	8.550291
CHOPIN: Famous Piano Music	8.550291DX
CINEMA CLASSICS, Vol. 12	8.556632
CLAIR DE LUNE - Classical Favourites for Relaxing and Dreaming	8.556601
CLASSICAL FAVOURITES	8.550521
CLASSICAL MOMENTS 5: Classical Music to Dine to	8.555361
Classical Music From TV Advert	8.554589
Classical Music Start-Up Kit, Vol. 2: 1825-1945	8.550835
CLASSICS FOR LOVERS	8.570013-14
CLEMENTI: 6 Progressive Piano Sonatinas, Op. 36 / Piano Sonatas	8.550452
DISCOVER CLASSICAL MUSIC	8.550008-09
Discover Music of the Baroque Era	8.558160-61
DISCOVER THE CLASSICS, VOL. 1	8.550035-36
DVORAK (THE BEST OF)	8.556661
DVORAK : Best Of Dvorak (The)	8.551111
Elegie: Classics for Relaxing and Dreaming	8.556612
Etude: Classics for Relaxing and Dreaming	8.556611
FAMOUS PIANO PIECES	8.571109
FAVOURITE PIANO SONATAS	8.553234
FUR ELISE - BEST OF ROMANTIC PIANO MUSIC	8.550647DX
FUR ELISE - ROMANTIC PIANO MUSIC	8.550647
GRIEG: Lyric Pieces	8.550577
GRIEG: Lyric Pieces / Peer Gynt Suite No. 2	8.553387
GRIEG: Lyric Pieces Books I - X (excerpts)	8.550450
GRIEG: Lyric Pieces, Opp. 12, 38, 54, 57, 62, 65, 68 and 71	8.550650
IMMORTAL BEETHOVEN	8.551165
KLAVIER GALA	8.551225-26
LISTEN, LEARN AND GROW: Playtime Fun and Games	8.555812
LISZT (THE BEST OF)	8.556667
MAIDEN'S PRAYER (THE) - LEAVES FROM GRANDMOTHER'S PIANO ALBUM	8.550646
MASTERPIECES OF THE ROMANTIC PIANO	8.553252
MOONLIGHT CLASSICS	8.550223DX
MY PIANO ALBUM 1	8.554908DX
NIGHT MUSIC 1	8.556815
NIGHT MUSIC 4	8.556818
NIGHT MUSIC, VOL. 1	8.551121
NIGHT MUSIC, VOL. 4	8.551124
Night Music, Vol. 11	8.551131
NIGHT MUSIC, VOL. 6	8.556820
NIGHT MUSIC, VOL. 7	8.556821
NIGHT MUSIC, VOL. 8	8.556822
NOCTURNE - Late Night Piano Music (Sweden only)	8.557292
PASTORALE - Classics for Relaxing and Dreaming	8.556608
PERFECT ROMANCE	8.570029
PERFECT WEDDING	8.557975
PERFECT WINTER WEDDING	8.557977
PIANO MUSIC FOR CHILDREN	8.571104
Prelude: Classics for Relaxing and Dreaming	8.556607
RHAPSODY ON A THEME OF PAGANINI	8.554137DX
ROMANCE OF THE PIANO (THE)	8.554579
ROMANTIC PIANO FAVOURITES, VOL. 3	8.550107
ROMANTIC PIANO FAVOURITES, VOL. 3	8.570084
ROMANTIC PIANO FAVOURITES, VOL. 5	8.550168
Romantic Piano Favourites, Vol. 6	8.550215
Romantic Piano Favourites, Vol. 6	8.570087
ROMANTIC PIANO FAVOURITES, VOL. 9	8.550218
ROMANTIC PIANO FAVOURITES, VOL. 9	8.570090
ROMANTIC PIANO FAVOURITES, VOL. 1	8.550052
ROMANTIC PIANO FAVOURITES, VOL. 1	8.570082
SCARLATTI, D.: Piano Sonatas (Selection)	8.550252
SCHUBERT: Romantic Schubert (The)	8.552215
SCHUBERT: Romantic Schubert (The)	8.570080
SCHUMANN : Best of Schumann (The)	8.551112
SCHUMANN, R. (THE BEST OF)	8.556662
SERENADE-BEST OF ROMANTIC PIANO MUSIC	8.554136DX
SOMMER	8.503045
SONGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME	8.550580DX
TCHAIKOVSKY: The Best Of Tchaikovsky	8.551102
THE MAIDEN'S PRAYER AND OTHER PIANO	8.550646DX