What is István Kertész?
'''István Kertész''' (born [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]], 28 August 1929; died near [[Tel Aviv]], [[Israel]], 16 April 1973) was a world-famous [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[Jew]]ish [[conducting|conductor]]. ==Early life== Kertész was born in [[Budapest]]. His family were [[Jew]]ish. His father was director at a [[leather]] factory. When his father died of [[appendicitis]] in 1938, his mother had to go out to work to earn money. It was not easy at the time for women in Hungary to find work, but she was successful. István started to learn the [[violin]] when he was six, and after a few years he started learning the [[piano]] as well. When the [[Nazi]]s invaded [[Hungary]] during [[World War II]] his family had to hide. Most of them were found and taken to [[Auschwitz]] where they died. In spite of the terrible situation István’s mother encouraged him to keep practising music. After the war he graduated from school and went to the Royal Academy of Music (now the [[Franz Liszt Academy of Music]] in Budapest, where he studied [[violin]], [[piano]], and [[Composition (music)|composition]]. [[Zoltán Kodály]] was one of his teachers. He soon became interested in conducting, and learned a lot from [[Bruno Walter]], and [[Otto Klemperer]], then the director of the [[Budapest Opera]]. ==Career== From 1953 to 1955, István Kertész conducted at [[Györ]], and the [[Budapest Opera]] orchestra. After the 1956 uprising in Hungary he and his family left their country and went to Germany. He settled there and took German [[nationality]]. Kertész became conductor at [[Augsburg]] (1958-1963) and then at [[Cologne]]. He first appeared in [[Great Britain|Britain]] in 1960 with the [[Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra]] and then with the [[London Symphony Orchestra]]. He first conducted in [[America]] in 1961, touring with the [[Hamburg RSO]]. He conducted at [[ROH|Covent Garden]] in 1965, and then took over from [[Pierre Monteux]] as conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. Kertész had a very large [[repertoire]] a