Helena Gáfforová

"From 1935 to 1963, she performed in a piano duo with her teacher Štefan Németh-Šamorínsky, and in the same formation also with Zoltán Hrabussay and much later with Valéria Kelly. The focus of her contributions to the development of Slovak musical culture dates back to 1954, when she obtained the position of assistant for chamber music collaboration at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU). She continued to collaborate with several students even after their studies at VŠMU, either through piano collaboration, as a member of ensembles, or when recording for radio and music publishers. A significant chapter in her artistic activities was her uninterrupted 33-year collaboration with Miloš Jurkovič (fl), both on the concert stage and with his students at VŠMU. Among her numerous artistic partners, special mention must be made of her long-term collaboration with Viktor Šimčisko (vn), Milan Telecký (vl), and Juraj Alexander (vc), with whom she performed in a piano quartet.

As a soloist, she collaborated with prominent Slovak orchestras under the direction of conductors such as Ľudovít Rajter, Bystrík Režucha, Edoardo Guarnieri, Ladislav Holoubek and others. As a soloist or chamber musician, she performed at the most significant music festivals of former Czechoslovakia. She was one of the fervent promoters of the works of her teachers Béla Bartók and Štefan Németh-Šamorínsky, whose complete piano works she studied. She had been active as a teacher since 1930, when she taught privately. From 1951 to 1954, she taught at the then 1st Music School (Music School for Slovakia) in Bratislava, and from 1954 to 2003, she served as assistant for chamber music collaboration at VŠMU (Associate Professor in 1991), which, together with her extracurricular concert activities, forms the core of her contributions.

Her artistic career (1930–2003) spanned the lives of three generations. She maintained the ability to deliver outstanding performances well into her old age. She was a reliable and sought-after support and source of inspiration for the performances of her partners. Her expression was grounded in perfect hearing, flawless memory, rare responsiveness, exceptional preparedness, and an intense personal contribution."

(Vladimír Čížik)