Like his great teacher Artur Schnabel, the American pianist Claude Frank, who has died aged 89, achieved an inner, visionary quality in his work and was admired not least for his refusal to play to the gallery. Like Schnabel, too, he had the ability, in passages of exceptional emotional depth, to make the listener forget the performer and perhaps even the instrument itself. Known particularly for his interpretations of the classical repertoire, especially Beethoven, of whose sonatas he made a much-admired recording, he also performed music for two pianos with his wife, Lilian Kallir, and chamber music with their daughter, the violinist Pamela Frank.
Born in Nuremberg, Germany, he grew up hearing lieder about the house – Brahms was a special favourite of his mother, who was a keen amateur singer. Having shown great promise in piano lessons, he was taken to play for Schnabel at his villa in Tremezzo on Lake Como. Schnabel recognised his talent, but recommended he have lessons first with pupils of his, including Schnabel’s own son, Karl Ulrich.
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