Fou Ts'ong

British pianist (1934–2020)

Fou Ts'ong (; 10 March 1934 – 28 December 2020) was a Chinese born British pianist who was the first pianist of his national origin to achieve international recognition. He came to prominence after winning third prize and the Polish Radio Prize for the best performance of mazurkas in the 1955 V International Chopin Piano Competition, and remained particularly known as an interpreter of Chopin's music.

Fou Ts'ong was born in Shanghai on 10 March 1934 to a family of intellectuals; his father was the translator Fu Lei. Fou's parents Fu Lei and Zhu Meifu were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and committed suicide in September 1966. Fou first studied piano with Mario Paci, the Italian founder of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Subsequently, officials in Beijing selected Fou to perform and compete in eastern Europe. In 1953, he won the third prize at the George Enescu International Competition. That year, at the age of nineteen, While studying in Warsaw, he gave concerts in Eastern Europe. and soon began giving concerts in Europe and the United States. In 1964, he made his New York recital debut at Town Hall. The New York Times was more favourable in its review of this recital than his New York Philharmonic debut, noting his "admirable lyricism" in playing Mozart, Schubert, and Debussy. He subsequently returned to New York several times; reviewing a 1987 recital at Alice Tully Hall, Bernard Holland of The New York Times described Fou as "an artist who uses his considerable pianistic gifts in pursuit of musical goals and not for show", and noted his "sensitive ear for color and that elusive gift of melody, whereby linear movement stretches and contracts in order to explain harmonic tensions." In 1967, Fou performed the Grieg Piano Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis as part of the First Night of the Proms. Around that time, he also performed in a piano trio with Hugh Maguire and Jacqueline du Pré. He also performed in Australia, South America and the Far East. James Methuen Campbell, in Fou's entry in Grove's Dictionary, also notes his interpretations of Debussy, Mozart and late Schubert, highlighting his "delicate touch and keen sensibility". He was a member of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition's jury in 1991, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2010. He also served on the jury of the Chopin Competition in 1985 and 2010, and on the jury of the Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition in 2002.

From 1960 to 1969, Fou was married to Zamira Menuhin, the daughter of Yehudi Menuhin, with whom he had one son. Their marriage ended in divorce. A brief marriage to Hijong Hyun from 1973 to 1976 also ended in divorce. In 1987, with whom he had one son. Fou died from COVID 19 in London on 28 December 2020, during the COVID 19 pandemic in England at age 86.