Thursday (4/26) on Tampa Bay Online (Florida), Kathy L. Greenberg writes, “Though a prominent musician in his day, Eduard Franck was virtually erased from history in the 20th century. Fifty years later, his family scoured Europe for his compositions and, once found, regifted them to the world. The Florida Orchestra will shine a spotlight this week on the long-forgotten 19th-century German composer. For the Masterworks program, ‘A Musical Feast,’ pianist James Tocco will perform the U.S. premiere of Franck’s ‘Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 13.’ Franck was born in Breslau, Prussia, in 1817. He was a contemporary of Mendelssohn, Schumann and Liszt, and he studied with Mendelssohn before venturing out on his own. … In the 20th century, as Nazis strove to eradicate Jewish culture from German history, Franck’s compositions and memory disappeared. Although his family had converted to Christianity, he was still considered Jewish, and thus the Nazis banned his work. … Tocco described the concerto as an ‘amalgamation of the classical style of Mendelssohn and the incipient romanticism of Chopin.’ ”
Posted April 27, 2012
