Kamilló Lendvay
Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher Kamilló Lendvay was born in Budapest on 28 December 1928 and studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. His first role was as conductor, music coach and choir director at Szeged Opera. From there he became musical director of the State Puppet Theatre, then musical director of the Hungarian Army Art Ensemble, then conductor and musical director of the Budapest Operetta Theatre. He was also a professor and head of the music theory department at the Liszt Academy.
He was one of the most important Hungarian composers whose careers began in the 1950s, writing theatre works, oratorios, orchestral, chamber and solo instrumental works.
His Pezzo concertato for cello and orchestra won second prize at the Trieste International Composers' Competition, and the recording of his one-act opera The Respectful Prostitute won the Gran Prix International du Disque Lyrique. Lendvay's Via crucis was commissioned by the Festival d'Art Sacre Paris and first performed in Paris in 1989.
Kamilló Lendvay died on 30 November 2016, aged eighty-seven.