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Orchestral

Claude Frank, Timeless Pianist and Prodigious Interpreter of Beethoven, Dead at 89

Timeless American pianist Claude Frank, one of the greatest interpreters of Beethoven, died in his home in Manhattan Saturday, Dec. 27, three days after his 89th birthday.The cause of death is said to be complications due to dementia, according to his daughter, Pamela Frank, a violinist and his only immediate survivor.Frank was born in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1925. His family, which was Jewish, moved to Paris once the Nazis came to power, and it was there where he studied at the Paris Conservatory. As the political situation in Europe worsened, he escaped by way of a hide-out in the Pyrenees Mountains and then Lisbon, where, with help from the Brazilian embassy, he made it to the United States. Frank studied under Austrian-born master Artur Schnabel in New York in the 1940s, but his studies were interrupted by military service. He became an American citizen in 1944.As a performer, He concentrated on the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms, but Frank was not only a world-renowned performer. As a teacher, whose students included veteran figures like Richard Goode and rising artists like Benjamin Hochman, he was encouraging of a wide-ranging repertory, including contemporary music.
By Jaime Prisco

  • With Not Much Else, New York City Opera Takes Bids on Name and Assets Due Jan. 20

    The New York City Opera has been in a grueling lawsuit that has convened in court since it filed for bankruptcy in 2013. For now, the brand of the City Opera is still in the hearts of most New York operagoers, but whether it will make a comeback has yet to be seen.The City Opera board has elected to sell its name and other assets, per "The New York Times," to a group called NYCO Renaissance. NYCO, thus, has plans to make Michael Capasso the general manager of a newly reconstituted opera company.Capasso, though, has a notorious record with his own, small Dicapo Opera Theater, which still owes money to its musicians and singers.
    By Ian Holubiak

  • British Musicians Offered Money, Lodging and Car to Train Qatari Military Bandsmen to Perform at Controversial 2022 World Cup

    Despite all the controversy surrounding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, British musicians seems to be receiving the best treatment. Musicians are being offered £66,000 — or $102,406.26 — to train Qatari military bandsmen to perform in front of a global TV audience during the event.The musicians will be offered tax-free salaries of up to £66,000 for training and the first wave of recruits will also get free accommodation and a car. This includes violinists and woodwind, brass and percussion players. There are also former military pipers and drummers and at least three orchestral conductors.The teachers will be expected to stay in Qatar for up to three years, by which time it is hoped the Qatari bandsmen will have reached the required standard to play at the opening ceremony and other high-profile events during the tournament. So far, Qatar has already signed up 60 professional musicians from Britain, who will set out to start sometime next month, but they are continuing to look for more.
    By Jaime Prisco