David Fray (born 24 May 1981) is a French classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. Voted "Newcomer of the Year 2008" by the ''BBC Music Magazine'', Fray has gained attention for his musical interpretation as well as his eccentricities in performance and rehearsal, which were highlighted in the 2008

ARTE Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

documentary about him titled ''Swing, Sing and Think''.

Biography

David Fray was born in

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba'' ...

, near the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

. Both his parents are teachers, his father's subject being philosophy and his mother's German. Fray entered the professional classical music world after receiving the Second Grand Prize at the

Montreal International Music Competition The Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) is an elite-level competition for classical musicians who are interested in pursuing an international career as a professional concert artist. Established in 2001 by the late André Bourbeau an ...

in 2004. After this acclaim he released "Schubert, Liszt", a CD compilation of works by the two composers, on the

ATMA Classique ATMA Classique is a Canadian record label based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1994 by Johanne Goyette, the company has close to 600 titles in its catalogue and distributes in over 25 countries and on the internet. Several recordings released ...

label. More recently, he has done video recordings of piano concertos by

J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suite ...

with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, as well as Schubert's

Wanderer Fantasy The Fantasie in C major, Op. 15 ( D. 760), popularly known as the ''Wanderer Fantasy'', is a four-movement fantasy for solo piano composed by Franz Schubert in 1822. It is widely considered Schubert's most technically demanding composition for th ...

during the Festival of La Roque d'Anthérnon. In 2008 he released a second CD, "Bach /

Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

Piano Recital", which was another compilation of two composers from separate musical periods. He has performed with many established conductors such as

John Axelrod John Neal Axelrod (born March 28, 1966, in Houston, Texas) is an American conductor. Axelrod was elected Artistic and musical director of the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville in 2014(ABC de SevillaRetrieved 2014-11-26./ref> and is Principal Co ...

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (18 July 1927 – 19 December 2015) was a German conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Or ...

Jaap van Zweden Jaap van Zweden (; born 12 December 1960) is a Dutch conductor and violinist. He is currently music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and of the New York Philharmonic, and music director-designate of the Seoul Philharmonic. ...

and

Christoph Eschenbach Christoph Eschenbach (; born 20 February 1940) is a German pianist and conductor. Early life Eschenbach was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland). His parents were Margarethe (née Jaross) and Heribert Ringmann. He was orphaned durin ...

. Fray has won a number of awards, including the "Révélation Classique" (Classical Discovery) from ADAMI, the "Jeune Soliste de l'Année" (Young Soloist of the Year) from the French Language Public Radio Coalition, and the Diploma for Outstanding Merit from the

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview ...

Competition.

Personal life

In July 2007 Fray married actress (daughter of conductor

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti, (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale ...

), with whom he has a daughter.

Playing style

Fray's love of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

and his playful, idiosyncratic appearance in the ARTE documentary, in which he excitedly bobs his eyebrows, bends low over the piano while seated on a backed chair, hums along with the orchestra, and jokes with his fellow musicians, have caused him to be compared with pianist

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

. However, Fray's style is radically different from Gould's—it is fluid where Gould's was sharply articulate. Fray has said that he is "not such a fan of Glenn Gould" and that pianist

Wilhelm Kempff Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff (25 November 1895 – 23 May 1991) was a German pianist and composer. Although his repertoire included Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms, Kempff was particularly well known for his interpretations ...

is an especially important influence: "What I love about his playing is that he makes the piano sing and speak. That is my ultimate goal.”

Recordings

* Schubert: Fantasia in C Major/Lieder Transcriptions/Sonata / David Fray (Atma 2005) * Bach: Partita in D major; French Suite BWV 812 in B minor / Boulez: Douze Notations pour piano; "Incises" / David Fray (Virgin Classics 2007) * Bach: Keyboard Concertos BWV 1052, 1055, 1056 & 1058 / David Fray, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Virgin Classics 2008) * Swing, Sing & Think. David Fray Records J.S. Bach / A film by

Bruno Monsaingeon Bruno Monsaingeon (; born 5 December 1943) is a French filmmaker, writer, and violinist. He has made a number of documentary films about famous twentieth-century musicians, including Glenn Gould, Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, Piotr Anderszews ...

(Virgin Classics DVD 2008) * Schubert: Impromptus Op.90, Moments Musicaux, Allegretto in C minor / David Fray (Virgin Classics 2009) * Mozart: Piano Concertos 22 & 25 / David Fray, Philharmonia Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden (Virgin Classics 2010) * David Fray Records Mozart – Piano Concertos Nos.22 & 25 / A film by

(Virgin Classics DVD 2011) * Bach: Partitas Nos. 2 & 6, Toccata BWV 911 / David Fray (Virgin Classics 2013) * Schubert: Sonata in G D894 ‘Fantasie’, the Hungarian Melody D817, the Fantasia in F minor D940, and the towering Allegro in A minor D947, ‘Lebensstürme’ (‘Storms of Life’) / David Fray, duets with Jacques Rouvier (Virgin Classics 2015) *Chopin: / David Fray (Erato/Warner Classics 2017) *Bach: Concertos for 2, 3 & 4 pianos / David Fray (Erato/Warner Classics 2018) *Bach: Sonatas / Renaud Capucon, David Fray / Erato/Warner Classics 2019) *Bach: Goldberg Variations (Erato/Warner Classics 2021)

References

External links

David Fray's official websiteDavid Fray on Warner Classics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fray, David 1981 births Living people 21st-century French male classical pianists People from Tarbes Erato Records artists