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<\/a>Gisela Zdenek came to music through her family. Both her mother and her \u201cbrother-uncle\u201d, as she affectionately refers to him on account of their only slight difference in age, were musically talented individuals. \u201cI got along especially well with my brother-uncle Alois. He needed my piano playing for his singing,\u201d she says with a wink. Zdenek\u2019s parents worked hard to provide their daughter with piano lessons and, later on, her own upright piano. \u201cThat was during the 1930s\u2014an awful period. Nobody had any money, and my parents were no exception.\u201d<\/p>\n
She ended up at the Academy thanks to her music teacher, who recognised her talent early on and motivated her to take the entrance exam. \u201cI could have done various apprenticeships. My mother\u2019s cousin, for instance, had a hair salon. But I wanted to study music.\u201d Ever since the mid-19th century, piano had been the most popular subject among the young women studying at the Academy in Vienna, many of whom dreamed of pianistic careers\u2014as did Gisela, who was then 16 years old.<\/p>\n
Barely two years after she\u2019d begun her studies, Austria was \u201cannexed\u201d by National Socialist Germany. \u201cOne day, I left the Academy and went to the tram, crossing Schwarzenbergplatz to reach the Ring. Over on Heldenplatz, Hitler was giving a speech. It was the day when everything changed. Though for me, nothing changed. The main thing for me was that I was allowed to study at the Academy\u2014 because getting accepted there wasn\u2019t so easy,\u201d Zdenek recalls. At that time, more and more students were being forced to end their studies: \u201cMany of my colleagues who\u2019d been studying with me just weren\u2019t there anymore the next day,\u201d she remembers, clearly pained. Nearly 50\u200a% of the Academy\u2019s teaching staff lost their jobs due to the termination measures implemented immediately following the National Socialists\u2019 seizure of power, and around 100 students had to leave the Academy on racial grounds. (See \u201cHistory of the mdw\u201d<\/a>).<\/p>\n Sometimes I\u2019d practice as much as six hours a day. It was always at least four.<\/p>\n Gisela Zdenek<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But despite everything, Gisela Zdenek still cherishes the memory of her time at the Academy. The pianist repeatedly describes her time studying here to have been one of the most wonderful periods of her life. \u201cI attended a concert nearly every day. As a student back then, I was able to get tickets for practically nothing. My favourite place was the Musikverein; I knew that building from cellar to attic.\u201d<\/p>\n During her studies, however, she gradually realised just what being a pianist entails and requires. \u201cI\u2019d always get such shaky knees\u2014but a concert pianist needs to have her knees under control,\u201d she remarks with a laugh, \u201cso I knew that playing publicly wasn\u2019t for me.\u201d When Prof. Hans Weber was called up for military service in 1941, she switched to Grete Hinterhofer for instruction in her chosen major.<\/p>\n One year later, on 23 July, she married her husband Paul Zdenek\u2014and shortly thereafter, she became pregnant. The fact that she continued her training nonetheless was by no means a given, and not everyone looked upon it kindly. \u201cProfessor Hinterhofer once asked me what I actually needed a diploma for, since I was already married anyway. I think she was jealous\u2014after all, she was unmarried and had no children,\u201d is how she assesses that today.<\/p>\n After her son\u2019s birth, Gisela Zdenek did encounter some difficulty continuing her studies, and she eventually transferred to the Conservatory of the City of Vienna to study with Viola Thern. It was thanks to her mother that she was able to continue her training. \u201cIf I hadn\u2019t had her, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to keep on studying. She took care of her grandchild while I was out being taught.\u201d<\/p>\n Paul Badura-Skoda was a universal genius.<\/p>\n Gisela Zdenek<\/p><\/blockquote>\n