Ervin Nyiregyházi

His highly distinctive playing style, which has been seen by some as linked to the kind of Romantic pianism associated with Franz Liszt, divided critical opinion.

[2] Nyiregyházi's father, Ignácz, was a singer in the Royal Opera Chorus in Budapest; he was also very encouraging and caring but died when Ervin was twelve.

His Carnegie Hall debut in 1920 was controversial: Richard Aldrich of the New York Times wrote of Nyiregyházi's "brilliant technical equipment, great strength of arm and fingers, remarkable dexterity, a fine feeling for piano tone" but criticized his "often erratic and misleading" conceptions of "some of the most familiar compositions for the piano".

[7] H. T. Finck of the Evening Post praised Nyiregyházi's "originality" but criticized his "arbitrary disregard of the obvious intentions of great composers.

"[8] Olin Downes, writing in the Boston Post, described Nyiregyhazi as a "phenomenal performer" with "the white heat of sincerity, conviction and faith.

In addition, Nyiregyházi, fearing comparison with other pianists, was reluctant to play standard repertoire, preferring his own transcriptions of orchestral and operatic works.

Though born into comfortable circumstances (his mother insisted that the servants tie his shoes and feed him by hand so as to relieve him of mundane concerns), he nonetheless spent the better part of his life in poverty, at times reduced to sleeping in subways.

[11] He became friends with Bela Lugosi and Gloria Swanson, among others, but his inability to manage his affairs led not only to financial crises but also to unusual career decisions.

Some of these recordings were released between 1977 and 1979 on albums on the Desmar and Columbia Masterworks labels, which briefly brought Nyiregyházi back into public view.

Others denounced Nyiregyhazi's "incredibly slipshod" technique, "ridiculously amateurish" fortissimo playing,[16] "glacial tempos and total dissociation from contemporary performance styles.

Events often moved him to compose, and his works have titles such as Goetz Versus the Punks, It’s Nice to be Soused, Shotgun Wedding, and Vanishing Hope.

A few of Nyiregyházi's recordings, including some live performances, have been issued on CD on the VAI, Music and Arts, and Sonetto Classics labels.