Vilém Kurz

Vilém Kurz (23 December 1872 in Německý Brod, Bohemia – 25 May 1945 in Prague) was a Czech pianist and piano teacher, a professor at the State Conservatory in Lwów and Vienna, and Prague Conservatory. His students included his daughter Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová, Rudolf Firkusny, Eduard Steuermann, Artur Rodzinski, Břetislav Bakala, Pavel Štěpán, Stanislav Heller, František Maxián, Gidéon Klein, Rafael Schächter, Viktorie Švihlíková, Ilja Hurník, Drahomir Toman, Zdeněk Jílek and Matusja Blum. See: List of music students by teacher: K to M#Vilém Kurz.
His teaching methods were largely based on those of Theodor Leschetizky and his pupils he met during the time he taught in Lwów. Later they were further developed by his daughter Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová.

Kurz is known for his reworking of the solo part of Antonín Dvořák's Piano Concerto in G minor, Op. 33, which was originally composed in 1876. For more than a decade after the concerto's first performance, it suffered from neglect and critical disdain. A common remark for many years was that the piano part was written "as if for two right hands."

While he was in his 20s, Kurz undertook a revision of the solo part, and it is this version that he frequently performed. Since that time, the original and the Kurz versions have been printed together in Otakar Šourek's critical edition of the score, one beneath the other, so that the soloist can choose which version to perform. The Kurz version has become a part of the standard piano repertoire. Dvořák's original orchestral material is not affected by the soloist's choice. In 1919 Ilona Kurzová played first performance the Kurz version of this Dvořák's piano in G minor concert conducted by Václav Talich. This revision was later adopted and recorded by Rudolf Firkusny, who in the 50's also introduced a few cuts to first and third movements. In the 70's he abandoned all revisions in favour of the original version by Dvořák.

Supraphon, the Czech recording company, issued a compact disc on which Ivan Moravec plays the Kurz version, with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek, while Radoslav Kvapil plays the composer's original score, with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra under František Jílek.