Ditta Pásztory-Bartók

Ditta Pásztory-Bartók (31 October 1903 – 21 November 1982) was a Hungarian pianist and the second wife of the composer Béla Bartók.

Along with the percussionists Saul Goodman and Henry Deneke, Béla and Ditta Pásztory-Bartók jointly premiered his Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion on 16 January 1938 at the ISCM anniversary concert in Basel, Switzerland.

In 1940 he made a two-piano arrangement of seven of the pieces from Mikrokosmos, to provide some additional repertoire for him and Ditta to play.

[8] In America, their life was characterised by financial hardship, cultural and social isolation, and lack of artistic satisfaction.

He also decided to write a third piano concerto as a surprise present for Ditta, who would be celebrating her 42nd birthday at the end of October 1945.

Alternative completions and revisions of the work have since appeared by Bartok's son Peter and Paul Neubauer, Csaba Erdélyi, and Tabea Zimmermann.

The honour of premiering the Third Piano Concerto in February 1946 went to György Sándor,[4] but Ditta Pásztory-Bartók did later perform and record it (with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Tibor Serly in 1964).

[1][9] After Bartók's death, Ditta returned to Budapest in 1946, where she remained for the rest of her life, devoted to promoting the memory of her late husband.