Berliner Gedenktafel Pariser Str 21 (Wilmd) Ignaz Friedman

Ignaz Friedman (also spelled ''Ignace'' or ''Ignacy''; full name ''Solomon (Salomon) Isaac Freudman(n)'', yi, שְׁלֹמֹה יִצְחָק פֿרײדמאַן; February 13, 1882January 26, 1948) was a Polish

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 ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Critics (e.g.

Harold C. Schonberg Harold Charles Schonberg (29 November 1915 – 26 July 2003) was an American music critic and author. He is best known for his contributions in ''The New York Times'', where he was List of chief music critics, chief music critic from 1960 to 198 ...

) and colleagues (e.g.

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

) alike placed him among the supreme piano virtuosi of his day, alongside

Leopold Godowsky Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. (13 February 1870 – 21 November 1938) was a Lithuanian-born American virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher. He was one of the most highly regarded performers of his time, known for his theories concernin ...

Moriz Rosenthal Moriz Rosenthal (17 December 18623 September 1946) was a Polish pianist and composer. He was an outstanding pupil of Franz Liszt and a friend and colleague of some of the greatest musicians of his age, including Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, A ...

Josef Hofmann Josef Casimir Hofmann (originally Józef Kazimierz Hofmann; January 20, 1876February 16, 1957) was a Polish-American pianist, composer, music teacher, and inventor. Biography Josef Hofmann was born in Podgórze (a district of Kraków), in Aus ...

and

Josef Lhévinne Josef Lhévinne (13 December 18742 December 1944) was a Russian pianist and piano teacher. Lhévinne wrote a short book in 1924 that is considered a classic: ''Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing''. Asked how to say his name, he told ''The Li ...

Early and later life

Born to an itinerant Jewish musician in "

Podgórze Podgórze is a district of Kraków, Poland, situated on the right (southern) bank of the Vistula River, at the foot of Lasota Hill. The district was subdivided in 1990 into six new districts, see present-day districts of Kraków for more details. ...

near

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

" (currently a district of Kraków – his birthplace exists at the Kalwaryjska str. 22) as a son of Nachman (sometimes ''Wolf'' or ''Wilhelm'') Freudmann, sometimes ''Freudman'' (born in Monasterzyska, now Ukraine, July 10, 1857) and Salomea Eisenbach (born in Krakow March 26, 1854), Ignaz Friedman was a

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

. He studied with

Hugo Riemann Karl Wilhelm Julius Hugo Riemann (18 July 1849 – 10 July 1919) was a German musicologist and composer who was among the founders of modern musicology. The leading European music scholar of his time, he was active and influential as both a musi ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky, pl, Teodor Leszetycki; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915 was an Austrian-Polish pianist, professor, and composer born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land of ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and participated in

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

's master classes.

Friedman lived in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

until 1914 and settled in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in 1920.

Career

His official début in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1904 featured a program of three piano concertos, rivaling the similar programs of established titans like

Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary f ...

and Godowsky, and he remained a titan throughout his career. His style was quiet and effortless, imbued with a sense of rhythm and color, grounded in a sovereign technique, and much has been written about his peerless interpretations of Chopin in particular. As with his compatriot and contemporary

, Friedman's Chopin interpretations, particularly those of the

mazurka The mazurka (Polish: ''mazur'' Polish ball dance, one of the five Polish national dances and ''mazurek'' Polish folk dance') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character de ...

s, are considered by many to be unsurpassed. Despite having given 2,800 concerts during his career, he sometimes received lukewarm reviews in America in later years, as younger critics were becoming accustomed to modernist playing which stripped romantic interpretation of its agogics and essence.

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

admired Friedman's playing very much and considered him as a great virtuoso in a style more romantic than his own. Friedman was never successful in America that has moved onto a much more modern and straightforward presentation with the technology of recording that prompted a different sensibility. Therefore Friedman remains as one of the last representatives of the bygone era even during the life of Rachmaninov. His playing may hold the key to understanding the musicianship of the great composers he so naturally represented. There has been a much repeated quote of playing to the galleries from a questionable source. It is not at all true. If one wishes to see the playing to the galleries today, not doing so is the rare exception as most modern performers display the expected gymnastics at the piano. In the times of Rosenthal, Rachmaninov, Horowitz, Rubinstein, Schnabel and Friedman as well as others, the first lesson taught and learned would be the tasteful presentation of transmission of music through the fingers and not the face. The devotion to the score and the intricate detail through an evolving rubato is Friedman's hallmark.

Later years and death

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Friedman was in Europe, but managed to escape when a concert tour in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

was offered at the last moment. He settled in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and remained there until his death (which occurred on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

, 1948). His last concert was in Sydney on July 24, 1943, after which

neuritis Neuritis () is inflammation of a nerve or the general inflammation of the peripheral nervous system. Inflammation, and frequently concomitant demyelination, cause impaired transmission of neural signals and leads to aberrant nerve function. Neurit ...

in his left hand forced him to retire from the concert platform.

Legacy

Friedman's relatively few recordings, which have been collected by

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

on five CDs, are widely admired, particularly his Chopin and his nine ''

Songs Without Words ''Songs Without Words'' (') is a series of short lyrical piano works by the Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn written between 1829 and 1845. His sister, Fanny Mendelssohn, and other composers also wrote pieces in the same genre. Music The ...

'' by

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositi ...

. Like most of the great artists of his time who broadcast, much of his recorded material has been lost, including hours of radio recordings made in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He composed more than 90 works, mainly piano miniatures, as well as pieces for cello and a

piano quintet In classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly a string quartet (i.e., two violins, viola, and cello). The term also refers to the group of musicians that plays a pian ...

, but his compositions have not found a niche in the standard repertory. The complete vocal output (37 songs) was issued as a recording in 2022. Friedman arranged many works, especially those of

J. S. 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

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...

. He also edited an almost complete edition of the piano works of Chopin and produced editions of

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

and

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

. The

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...

awards an annual Ignaz Friedman Prize for composition.University of Sydney
/ref> Friedman also taught several important pianists, including Joseph Gurt, Karol Klein,

Anna Schytte Anna Johanne Schytte, also known as Anna Jutta Schytte (20 November 1877 - 16 March 1953) was a Danish composer, pianist, and teacher who performed throughout Europe and recorded for Welte Mignon reproducing pianos. Schytte was born in Copenhagen ...

, Ignace Tiegerman and

Bruce Hungerford Bruce Hungerford (24 November 192226 January 1977), known for the majority of his career as Leonard Hungerford, was an Australian pianist. Biography Born in Korumburra, Victoria, Bruce Hungerford was originally named Leonard Sinclair Hungerfo ...

(who also died in a foreign country on Australia Day).

Discography

Releases by Naxos Historical

* Vol.1:- BEETHOVEN: 'Moonlight' Sonata / CHOPIN: Mazurkas (8.110684) * Vol.2:- GRIEG: Piano Concerto / CHOPIN: Sonata in B Flat Minor (8.110686) * Vol.3:- CHOPIN: Mazurkas (8.110690) * Vol.4:- MENDELSSOHN: Songs without Words (8.110736) * Vol.5:- English Columbia Recordings (8.111114)

Release by Arbiter

* Masters of Chopin (Arbiter 158): Selection including previously unpublished recordings.

As Composer

* Ignaz Friedman: Piano Works - Michael Schafer (Genuin Classics, 89149)(2009) * Friedman: Original Piano Compositions - Joseph Banowetz (Grand Piano GP711)(2016) * Complete Songs - Şen Acar (soprano), Szymon Chojnacki (bass-baritone), Jakub Tchorzewski (piano) Acte Préalable AP0523 (2022)

References

External links

*
At the Piano with Ignaz Friedman

BosendorferImperial.com
- site about the Imperial piano with complete audio files including "Viennese Waltz, #2" from a set of six waltzes written by Friedman, played by Victor Borge
Scores by Ignaz Friedman
in digital library

Polona Polona is a Polish digital library, which provides digitized books, magazines, graphics, maps, music, fliers and manuscripts from collections of the National Library of Poland and co-operating institutions. It began its operation in 2006. Colle ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Ignaz 1882 births 1948 deaths 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Australian male musicians 20th-century Australian musicians Polish composers Polish classical musicians Polish classical pianists Polish male classical composers Jewish classical composers Jewish classical pianists Male classical pianists Musicians from Kraków Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Jews who emigrated to escape Nazism Polish expatriates in Australia Pupils of Theodor Leschetizky Pupils of Hugo Riemann