Zichy Géza, *22 July 1849 Sztára (now Staré near Michalovce, Slovakia), 14 January 1924 Budapest, Hungarian pianist, composer and writer. He gained musical education with R. Volkmann (composition) and F. Liszt (piano). In 1875–1918, he managed the conservatory in Budapest, and from 1891 to 1894, he was the intendant of the local opera. In 1911, he became a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Zichy was one of Liszt’s close friends, and on his advice, he went on a concert tour around Europe in 1880 as a left-handed pianist (in 1863 he lost his right hand in a hunting accident).
Zichy’s compositional achievements include piano pieces, especially for the left hand (Piano Concerto in E-flat major 1902, Six études pour la main gauche seule, published in Paris 1878, 4 Etudes de concert around 1879, transcriptions of works by J.S. Bach, F. Chopin, F. Liszt). He also composed vocal and instrumental music (including songs for voice and piano or orchestra, the cantata Dolores) and stage music, in which he often used motifs from Hungarian or Gypsy folk music (including performances in Budapest Rákóczi-Trilogie – a trilogy of operas to librettos: Ferenc Rákóczi II, 1909, Nemo, 1905, Radostó, 1912; ballet Gemma, performed in Prague 1904). He is also the author of poetic texts and autobiography (Aus meinem Leben, 3 vol., Stuttgart 1911–20).
