Photo: György Kurtág; credit: Andrea Felvegi, Editio Musica Budapest
Composer György Kurtág and pianist András Schiff will each be awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society's highest honour, the Gold Medal.
The medal, which is awarded in recognition of outstanding musicianship, was created in 1870 to commemorate the centenary of Beethoven's birth.
The Hungarian composer Kurtág, who is one of most important composers working today, will collect his award on Sunday 1 December at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London where he will perform a concert of his own music with his pianist wife Márta.
Schiff’s medal will be presented to the pianist on his 60th birthday – Saturday 21 December – when he performs Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations at London’s Wigmore Hall.
Neatly, András Schiff is a former pupil of György Kurtág's.
Past RPS Gold Medal winners include Johannes Brahms, Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky, Richard Strauss, Vladimir Horowitz, Janet Baker, Daniel Barenboim and Mitsuko Uchida.
The Royal Philharmonic Society, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, is a society for music professionals and music lovers. Visit the Royal Philharmonic Society website for more information about the Gold Medal and its work.