The Piano That Played Without Love

In 1928, a young pianist named Ervin Nyiregyházi dazzled New York critics with his astonishing technique. He could play Liszt with a ferocity that left audiences breathless. Yet by the 1930s, his career had collapsed — not for lack of skill, but for lack of connection. Fellow musicians described his playing as cold, self-serving, performed to glorify his own genius rather than to move the human heart.…