Overview

Allan Evans's groundbreaking biography of Ignaz Friedman gives the reader the behind and the between of the life and career of this extraordinary pianist. Friedman's repertory emphasized the major works of Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, and Brahms, but he was perhaps best known for his interpretation of the Chopin mazurkas, which by all accounts he played with the same rhythmic nuance as their composer. Evans examines Friedman's life as a cultured Jewish musician from Poland; his studies in Leipzig and Vienna; his marriage to Manya Schidlowsky-a Russian countess and relative of Tolstoy; and his performing career, teaching, and retirement in Australia.

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9780253353108

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Reviews

"""Of great interest to pianists and their audiences ... the accounts of lessons with Friedman are particularly riveting."" Kenneth Hamilton, Birmingham University ""A remarkable and historic book that delivers an intimate and thorough portrait of the artist."" Kenneth Cooper, Manhattan School of Music ""There was an early archaeologist in the first decades of the 15th century by the name of Ciriaco d'Ancona. When asked what he was doing, he replied: 'I wake the dead.' Allan Evans could claim the same. It is wonderful, how many hidden testimonies he rescues from oblivion!"" Ernst Gombrich"

Of great interest to pianists and their audiences ... the accounts of lessons with Friedman are particularly riveting. Kenneth Hamilton, Birmingham University A remarkable and historic book that delivers an intimate and thorough portrait of the artist. Kenneth Cooper, Manhattan School of Music There was an early archaeologist in the first decades of the 15th century by the name of Ciriaco d'Ancona. When asked what he was doing, he replied: 'I wake the dead.' Allan Evans could claim the same. It is wonderful, how many hidden testimonies he rescues from oblivion! Ernst Gombrich

There was an early archaeologist in the first decades of the 15th century by the name of Ciriaco d'Ancona. When asked what he was doing, he replied: 'I wake the dead.' Allan Evans could claim the same. It is wonderful, how many hidden testimonies he rescues from oblivion! -Ernst Gombrich A remarkable and historic book that delivers an intimate and thorough portrait of the artist. The depth of research is staggering... It is now possible to put a face, a life, a reality, a personality to the man who only existed in our ears, hearts, and musical minds. -Kenneth Cooper, Manhattan School of Music Of great interest to pianists and their audiences... the accounts of lessons with Friedman are particularly riveting. -Kenneth Hamilton, Birmingham University This book is a must read, above all, for those interested in Ignaz Friedman, and for those interested in the musical world of his time. -www.classicalmusicguide.com, September 8, 2009 Evans packs so much into these pages that it is not just an interesting biography but more an immersion into the entire piano world of the first half of the 20th century. The book includes a number of interesting photos; the appendixes are a rich source, meticulously documented, of Friedman's concert repertoire, recordings, compositions, and editorial work on the compositions of Frederic Chopin. This volume is a true labor of love... Highly recommended. -Choice, January 2010 This distinguished study brings back to the forefront a great artist who was in danger of being forgotten. -Gramophone, November 2009 Ignaz Friedman is thoroughly researched and offers readers new insight into the life and activities of this pianistic giant. -Music Research Forum, Vol. 25, 2010 Allan Evans's biography of Ignaz Friedman... is a beautifully written and marvelously researched book about one of the greatest piano virtuosos of the twentieth century... This is a book to savor, to read and reread. -Clavier Companion Nothing is harder to bring back to life than a dead pianist, no matter how effervescent or influential. The art dies with the fingers. What Allan Evans has done-not once but three times-is to make the late artist seem absolutely relevant to our times. -Norman Lebrecht

Nothing is harder to bring back to life than a dead pianist, no matter how effervescent or influential. The art dies with the fingers. What Allan Evans has done-not once but three times-is to make the late artist seem absolutely relevant to our times. -Norman Lebrecht There was an early archaeologist in the first decades of the 15th century by the name of Ciriaco d'Ancona. When asked what he was doing, he replied: 'I wake the dead.' Allan Evans could claim the same. It is wonderful, how many hidden testimonies he rescues from oblivion! -Ernst Gombrich A remarkable and historic book that delivers an intimate and thorough portrait of the artist. The depth of research is staggering... It is now possible to put a face, a life, a reality, a personality to the man who only existed in our ears, hearts, and musical minds. -Kenneth Cooper, Manhattan School of Music Of great interest to pianists and their audiences... the accounts of lessons with Friedman are particularly riveting. -Kenneth Hamilton, Birmingham University This book is a must read, above all, for those interested in Ignaz Friedman, and for those interested in the musical world of his time. -www.classicalmusicguide.com, September 8, 2009 Evans packs so much into these pages that it is not just an interesting biography but more an immersion into the entire piano world of the first half of the 20th century. The book includes a number of interesting photos; the appendixes are a rich source, meticulously documented, of Friedman's concert repertoire, recordings, compositions, and editorial work on the compositions of Frederic Chopin. This volume is a true labor of love... Highly recommended. -Choice, January 2010 This distinguished study brings back to the forefront a great artist who was in danger of being forgotten. -Gramophone, November 2009 Ignaz Friedman is thoroughly researched and offers readers new insight into the life and activities of this pianistic giant. -Music Research Forum, Vol. 25, 2010 Allan Evans's biography of Ignaz Friedman... is a beautifully written and marvelously researched book about one of the greatest piano virtuosos of the twentieth century... This is a book to savor, to read and reread. -Clavier Companion

Author Information

Allan Evans is the founder of Arbiter of Cultural Traditions and has published more than 150 recordings by historic interpreters. He is editor (with Mark Mitchell) of Moriz Rosenthal in Word and Music: A Legacy of the Nineteenth Century (IUP, 2005). Evans teaches at the Mannes College of Music, New York. He lives in New York.

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