“The American pianist Claude Frank, widely admired for his insightful, sensitive performances of the solo and chamber works of the Germanic masters, and an influential teacher to generations of pianists, died on Saturday at his home in Manhattan,” writes Anthony Tommasini in last Monday’s (12/29) New York Times. “The cause was complications of dementia, said his daughter, Pamela Frank, a violinist and his only immediate survivor. Mr. Frank was a pianist in the tradition of the Austrian-born master Artur Schnabel…. The hallmarks of Mr. Frank’s playing were clear projection of musical structure, fidelity to the score and poetic refinement…. He concentrated as a performer on the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms…. He was one of the earliest members of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, which was founded in 1964…. He also performed frequently in piano duo with his wife, the pianist Lilian Kallir [1931-2004]…. Frank was born in Nuremberg, Germany, on Dec. 24, 1925. As the Nazis came to power, his family, which was Jewish, moved to Paris when Mr. Frank was 12. There he studied at the Paris Conservatory. In 1940, as the political situation worsened, Mr. Frank escaped.… He became an American citizen in 1944.”
Posted January 5, 2015
