Passing of Byron Janis at 95: A Tribute to a Piano Legend

Byron Janis, considered internationally as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, has died at the age of 95. The musician was famous for his outstanding interpretations of the romantic repertoire and for the discovery of manuscript copies of two waltzes by Fryderyk Chopin. Janis performed six times at the White House in front of four sitting presidents, and his accolades include the title of Commander of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic, the Grand Prix du Disque, the Stanford Fellowship at Yale, and the gold medal of the French Society for the Encouragement of Progress (he was the first musician to receive this honor). Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, on March 24, 1928, to Jewish parents of Russian and Polish origin, Byron Janis made his debut at the age of 15 with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini, and the following year was chosen by the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz as his first student. At 18, he became the youngest artist ever signed by RCA Victor Records. Two years later, in 1948, he made his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York, greeted by an unprecedented success. Over a career spanning 85 years, Janis covered and performed the major piano concertos of Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, and Prokofiev. During the Cold War period, Janis was the first American artist chosen to participate in the 1960 cultural exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. Later, he was the first American pianist to be invited back to Cuba, 40 years after his previous performance. In 1967, Janis discovered two unpublished manuscript waltzes by Chopin in an archive in France and later found two more while teaching at Yale University. EMI released his Chopin Collection in 2012. His brilliant career was threatened by arthritis. In the early 1970s, Janis experienced pain and stiffness during his performances due to psoriatic arthritis in both hands and wrists. After being diagnosed in 1973, Janis maintained his concert schedule and his regimen of five hours of practice daily. He began to speak about his arthritis only in 1985 when Nancy Reagan announced his appointment as National Arts Ambassador for the Arthritis Foundation after a concert at the White House. But the continued deterioration of his joints, particularly his left thumb, made touching the keyboard excruciating. When, in 1990, surgery left his thumb slightly shorter, but enough to compromise his ability to perform some of the stretches required in the great romantic masterpieces, he fell into depression. Janis temporarily retired from the concert stage and turned to songwriting. In the mid-1990s, Janis returned to performing, initially with caution, with brief performances at charity concerts. The musician passed away last March 14 at the age of 95 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. His wife Maria Cooper Janis, daughter of the twice Oscar-winning actor Gary Cooper, announced the news. "I have had the privilege, for 58 years, of loving and being loved not only by one of the greatest artists of the 20th century but also by an exceptional human being who brought his talent to the highest levels," she said in a statement.