Try playing Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 as an unmistakeably 18th-century piece yet give the audience enough hints as to the greatness of a classical maestro who would define the early 19th century. Ilya Shmukler pulled this off in a live recital. Not only that. Shmukler performed the piece – the recording of which is now available on CD – in the first round of the 2024 Concours Géza Anda in Zurich. The very round in which the competing pianists nervously pace around biting their fingernails in some dimly lit backstage room at the Musikschule Konservatorium in Zurich. Unfazed, Shmukler played like a virtuoso. Then came the semi-final on a sweltering June evening in Winterthur. Despite the presence of jury chair and master pianist Mikhail Pletnev, it was turning out to be a forgettable occasion. Then Shmukler walked on stage to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17. – another “threshold” piece. Composed in 1784, No. 17 already hints at the glorious No. 20 in D minor that was to follow one year later. Shmukler’s skilfully ambivalent interpretation won over the audience, sealing the young man’s place in the final at the Zurich Tonhalle. Indeed, everyone in the auditorium now knew that Shmukler would go on to win the competition. The Geza Anda Foundation was created in 1978 in memory of Swiss-Hungarian pianist Géza Anda who died in 1976. It owes its existence to Géza Anda’s wealthy widow Hortense Anda-Bührle. The Concours Géza Anda has taken place every three years since 1979. What is remarkable yet telling is that none of the star prodigies have previously won the competition – pianists like Bruce Liu and Daniil Trifonov earned their stripes elsewhere. But what sets the Géza Anda Foundation apart is that it helps its winners by providing them with concert appearances for three years – in Europe, South America, and Asia. Past winners include Konstantin Scherbakov, Alexei Volodin, Nikolai Tokarev and Dénes Várjon. This list now includes Ilya Shmukler, who was born in Moscow in 1994. His live competition performances – pieces by Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Bartók and Stravinsky – have been recorded on an album. There is much to admire about this wonderful pianist, whom we will all hear much more about sooner or later. CHRISTIAN BERZINS He hid Jews at his consular residence in Budapest during the final months of the Second World War. He was tortured by Hungarian fascists and later captured by the Russians. The life of Harald Feller from Berne reads like a film script, but few will have heard of his story. Until now. Historian François Wisard sets out to right this wrong in his new book – an objective and well-researched account published in French and German. Feller, a young lawyer, worked from 1943 to 1945 at the Swiss legation in Budapest. There he experienced the German occupation, the Hungarian Nazis’ seizure of power, and the bloody battle for the city, which ended in victory for the Red Army. Feller stayed put at the legation, of which he became head in 1944. From 1944, the – officially neutral – Swiss Vice-Consul in Budapest, Carl Lutz, issued diplomatic letters of protection to tens of thousands of Jews, rescuing them from deportation and death (see “Swiss Review” 3/2023). Feller was also a hero, saving the lives of at least 32 people. He gave exit and transit documents to some, he provided shelter at his residence to others. In doing so, he not only broke diplomatic rules but also put himself at great risk. The Hungarian Nazis interrogated and tortured him at the end of 1944. In February 1945, the Soviet secret service abducted Feller to use him as a bargaining chip with Switzerland. After one year in a Moscow prison cell, he was released in exchange for Russians detained in Switzerland. On his return, he learned that criminal proceedings had been launched against him. The Swiss authorities were investigating whether he collaborated with the Nazis. This charge proved to be groundless, but Feller was never officially vindicated. Unlike Carl Lutz, who fought for recognition until his death in 1975, Feller withdrew from view. He worked as a public prosecutor in Berne and got involved in the theatre after retiring. Eva Koralnik contacted him in the mid-1990s. Koralnik was a child when Feller enabled her, her mother and her sister to escape to Switzerland. The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial honoured him at her request in 1999, naming the then 86-year-old as one of the “Righteous Among the Nations”. Feller died in 2003. His life in the Swiss diplomatic service was like no other, Wisard writes. Yet Feller never considered writing his memoirs. He had only done his duty, he said. SUSANNE WENGER Shmukler wows Zurich Harald Feller, the quiet hero ILYA SHMUKLER “The Winner’s Recital” Prospero 2025 FRANÇOIS WISARD “Harald Feller – Retter von Verfolgten, Gefangener von Stalin. Die Leben eines Schweizer Diplomaten in Budapest”, Elfundzehn-Verlag, 2025. 250 pages, CHF 29.80 Swiss Review / December 2025 / No.5 23 Books Sounds
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