Toronto pianist Anton Kuerti loses track mid-recital, admitted to intensive care at Miami hospital

At a Thursday night recital in Coral Gables Fla., 75-year-old pianist Anton Kuerti appeared to lose track of his performance, was escorted from the stage and is now in the intensive care ward of a Miami hospital, according to Dorothy Hindman of the South Florida Classical Review.

Hindman and everyone else at the concert noticed that Kuerti got lost during the second of Beethoven’s Op. 119 Bagatelles, and was unable to regain the flow of the music. An audience member persuaded him to stop playing and escorted him offstage.

Hindman reports that Kuerti was unsteady, unable to answer basic questions, and was immediately rushed to South Miami Hospital.

UPDATE (Nov. 4):

There are no further details available regarding Kuerti’s condition. I’ve been asking around, and have been told that the family is demanding absolute privacy in the matter. You can read Hindman’s full report here.

John Terauds