MUSICIANS from Hungary

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Hungarian Musicians of all time. This list of famous Hungarian Musicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Hungarian Musicians.

1. György Cziffra (1921 - 1994)

With an HPI of 61.32, György Cziffra is the most famous Hungarian Musician.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages on wikipedia.

Christian Georges Cziffra (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɟørɟ ˈt͡sifrɒ]; born Cziffra Krisztián György; 5 November 1921 – 15 January 1994) was a Hungarian-French virtuoso pianist and composer. He is considered to be one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of the twentieth century. Among his teachers was Ernő Dohnányi, a pupil of István Thoman, who was a favourite pupil of Franz Liszt. Born in Budapest, he became a French national in 1968. Cziffra is known for his recordings of works of Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin and Robert Schumann, and also for his technically demanding arrangements or paraphrases of several orchestral works for the piano, including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee and Johann Strauss II's The Blue Danube. Cziffra left a sizeable body of recordings. He died in Senlis in 1994 aged 72.

2. Arthur Nikisch (1855 - 1922)

With an HPI of 59.81, Arthur Nikisch is the 2nd most famous Hungarian Musician.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Arthur Nikisch (12 October 1855 – 23 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Liszt. Johannes Brahms praised Nikisch's performance of his Fourth Symphony as "quite exemplary, it's impossible to hear it any better."

3. Leopold Auer (1845 - 1930)

With an HPI of 59.39, Leopold Auer is the 3rd most famous Hungarian Musician.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Leopold von Auer (Hungarian: Auer Lipót; June 7, 1845 – July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers.

4. András Schiff (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 57.30, András Schiff is the 4th most famous Hungarian Musician.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Sir András Schiff (Hungarian: [ˈɒndraːʃ ˈʃiff]; born 21 December 1953) is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist and conductor. He has received numerous awards and honours, including the Grammy Award, Gramophone Award, Mozart Medal, and Royal Academy of Music Bach Prize, and was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to music. He is also known for his public criticism of political movements in Hungary and Austria. Schiff is a distinguished visiting professor of piano at the Barenboim–Said Akademie in Berlin, and the first artist-in-residence of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

5. Rezső Seress (1889 - 1968)

With an HPI of 56.40, Rezső Seress is the 5th most famous Hungarian Musician.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Rezső Seress (Hungarian: Seress Rezső, [ˈʃɛrɛʃː ˈrɛʒøː]; 3 November 1889 – 12 January 1968) was a Hungarian pianist and composer. Some sources give his birth name as Rudolf ("Rudi") Spitzer.

6. Tommy Ramone (1949 - 2014)

With an HPI of 55.89, Tommy Ramone is the 6th most famous Hungarian Musician.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Thomas Erdelyi (born Tamás Erdélyi, [ˈærdeji ˈtɒmaːʃ]; January 29, 1949 – July 11, 2014), known professionally as Tommy Ramone, was a Hungarian-American musician. He was the drummer for the influential punk rock band the Ramones from its debut in 1974 to 1978, later serving as its producer, and was the longest-surviving original member of the Ramones.

7. Géza Anda (1921 - 1976)

With an HPI of 55.88, Géza Anda is the 7th most famous Hungarian Musician.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Géza Anda (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɡeːzɒ ˈɒndɒ]; 19 November 1921 – 13 June 1976) was a Swiss-Hungarian pianist. A celebrated interpreter of classical and romantic repertoire, particularly noted for his performances and recordings of Mozart, he was also considered to be a tremendous interpreter of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Bartók. In his heyday he was regarded as an amazing artist, possessed of a beautiful, natural and flawless technique that gave his concerts a unique quality. Most of his recordings were made on the Deutsche Grammophon label.

8. Eugene Ormandy (1899 - 1985)

With an HPI of 55.30, Eugene Ormandy is the 8th most famous Hungarian Musician.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association with the orchestra is one of the longest enjoyed by any conductor with any American orchestra. Ormandy made numerous recordings with the orchestra, and as guest conductor with European orchestras, and achieved three gold records and two Grammy Awards. His reputation was as a skilled technician and expert orchestral builder.

9. Jenő Hubay (1858 - 1937)

With an HPI of 54.98, Jenő Hubay is the 9th most famous Hungarian Musician.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Jenő Hubay von Szalatna (Hungarian: szalatnai Hubay Jenő [ˈhubɒi ˈjɛnøː]; 15 September 1858 – 12 March 1937), also known by his German name Eugen Huber (pronounced [ˈɔʏɡeːn ˈhuːbɐ, ˈɔʏɡn̩ -]), was a Hungarian violinist, composer and music teacher.

10. Carl Flesch (1873 - 1944)

With an HPI of 54.26, Carl Flesch is the 10th most famous Hungarian Musician.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch, 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian classical violinist and teacher. Flesch’s compendium Scale System is a staple of violin pedagogy.