Born in Zurich as the youngest son to a family of musicians, Rico Gulda grew up in Munich, where he studied the piano first with his mother Yuko, then continued with legendary German virtuoso Ludwig Hoffmann. At the Vienna Music University, he then studied with Noel Flores, whilst also working with his father, the late pianist-composer Friedrich Gulda. Initially embarking on a career as pianist, he performed with international orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Verdi Orchestra Milan, Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg, and others, while recording for the Naxos, Deutsche Grammophon, Orplid, and Amphion labels. Rico Gulda taught piano at Mozarteum University (Salzburg), Hansei University (Seoul), and in masterclasses in Vienna, Vietnam, and Japan. He now regularly holds music management workshops and is frequently invited as juror at major international piano competitions. Currently head of artistic planning and dramaturgy of Wiener Konzerthaus, he is responsible for over 600 concerts per season. He is also artistic director of the Oberösterreichische Stiftskonzerte summer festival.
ARTIST FORUM : RICO GULDA WFIMC: May we begin and talk a little about your father. Friedrich Gulda won First Prize in Geneva in 1946, when he was sixteen. Did he ever talk about this, or what the competition meant to him? Rico Gulda: There are some stories from people who experienced Geneva at the time. In fact, there was not only my father, but also others like Paul Badura Skoda and Jörg Demus- a whole delegation! One of the founders of the Geneva Competition was Frédéric Liebstöckl, an important figure in the cultural life of the city, who was originally from Vienna, so that must have been the connection. My father himself said a few things that were important to him. First of all, coming from postwar Vienna and having just experienced the horror of World War II, arriving in Switzerland at that time must have been simply overwhelming. In culinary terms, at least- because the buffet was so sumptuous, Switzerland was an idyllic place undamaged by the war. This was maybe one of his strongest memories- there was so much to eat. But musically, he also mentioned one important thing: during his stay at the competition, maybe because of his host family, he came in contact with the francophone world. His love for French music, a strong love especially for Debussy and Ravel, was awakened there, and not by his teacher Seidelhofer in Vienna. And the fact that he won First Prize- he never really talked about that.
Did Competitions affect him or interest him? Did he not reject them later on? After Geneva, he was no longer particularly interested in competitions, especially not classical competitions. Later, when he fully lived out his love for improvisation, he was convinced that concentrating solely on classical repertoire was not enough. But he did initiate a jazz competition in Vienna, at the Konzerthaus, which actually produced really great winners- artists who later became big names in the scene.
What about yourself- did your father ask you to take part in competitions? We never talked about it really. It was not important for him. I grew up in Munich and studied with my mother, before I came to Vienna to take lessons with Ludwig Hoffmann. At that time, I was one of the youngest among a number of really talented students, who also went to competitions. Margarita Höhenrieder was one of his star students. Later, when I began to study at the University with Professor Petermandl, his student Stefan Vladar had just won the Beethoven Competition. But in general, competitions were not quite as present as today- without the internet everything took more time and was much more complicated back then.
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