The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Master pianist and teacher Frank Glazer dies just shy of 100. He performed several times in Madison at Farley’s House of Pianos.

By Jacob Stockinger

Sad news comes to The Ear via his good friends Renee and Tim Farley, who own and operate Farley’s House of Pianos, on Madison’s far west side.

It concerns the death this past week of the Wisconsin-born and Maine-based American concert pianist and piano teacher Frank Glazer (below), who taught as an artist-in-residence for decades at Bates College. He continued performing in public right up until the end.

You may recall that the Farley store not only sells pianos but also features a distinguished piano recital series, which has featured Glazer.

Here are links to three stories and reviews that appeared on this blog about the legendary Frank Glazer playing in Madison:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/classical-music-critic-john-w-barker-tells-his-sideswiped-tale-of-two-concerts-as-he-reviews-the-isthmus-vocal-ensemble-and-pianist-frank-glazer/

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/classical-music-pianist-frank-glazer-98-will-perform-haydn-beethoven-liszt-and-barber-when-he-returns-to-farleys-house-of-pianos-this-sunday-afternoon/

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2011/09/22/classical-music-at-96-pianist-frank-glazer-returns-to-farley’s-this-friday-night-to-perform-an-impressive-program-of-bach-mozart-beethoven-chopin-and-liszt/

The new season of piano recital at Farley’s — the Salon Piano Series — kicks off next weekend at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoon with Russian pianist Ilya Yakushev (below), who is also in town to solo in two piano concertos – in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach and in G Minor by Felix Mendelssohn – with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra next Friday night at 8.

For more information about Yakushev’s recital of music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann and Sergei Prokofiev at Farley’s, visit:

http://salonpianoseries.org/concerts.html

But more about that recital that in another posting.

Here is what the Farleys (below is Tim Farley in his store’s workshop) write about a loss:

“We have sad news to report to you.  Pianist Frank Glazer died on Tuesday, Jan. 13, after a brief illness.

“He was scheduled to play at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Feb. 19, 2015 for his 100th birthday.

“He also had concerts planned around this time in Maine, Boston, Paynesville, Winston-Salem and one in Janesville that was co-sponsored by Farley’s House of Pianos.

“Frank told Tim that he understood that there were other pianists playing concerts at around age 100 but none of them played the difficult literature – like Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata and “Diabelli” Variations — that he played. (See the impressive list of a recent concert tour below.)

2012-2013 Season

A retrospective of piano repertoire in eight concerts performed by Frank Glazer during the course of his 32 years as Artist-in-Residence at Bates College (1980 – 2012).

Friday, September 14, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.

1. Handel, Chaconne in G major

Mozart, Adagio in B minor, K. 540

Beethoven, Sonata in C minor, Op. 13

Debussy, Suite Bergamasque

Chopin Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61

Chopin, Ballade in G minor, Op. 23

Encore: Chopin, Mazurka, Op. 17, No. 4

Friday, October 12, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.

1. Schoenberg, Six Short Pieces, Op. 19

Schubert, Sonata in A Major, D. 959

Brahms, Fantaisies, Op. 116

Chopin, Berceuse, Op. 57

Chopin, Impromptu in G-Flat major, Op. 51

Chopin, Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49

Encore: Chopin, Nocturne, Op. 27 No. 2

Friday, November 9, 2012 at 7:30 PM

III.      Bach, Toccata in D major, BWV 912

Mozart, Rondo in A minor, K. 511

Beethoven, Sonata in C minor, Op. 111

Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales

Chopin, Nocturne in B major, Op. 9 No. 3

Chopin, Etude in A-flat major, Op. 10, No. 10

Chopin, Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante in E^♭ major, Op. 22

Encore: Ravel, Pavane

Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 3 p.m.

1. Franck, Prélude, Chorale and Fugue

Weber, Sonata in A-flat major, Op. 39

Gershwin, Preludes for piano

Barber, Excursions for the piano

Copland, Piano Variations (1930)

Brahms, Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Op. 35, Book II

Encore: Weber Rondo brillant (La Gaitié), Op. 62

Sunday, January 13, 2012 at 3:00 PM

1. Mendelssohn, Songs Without Words:

Book V, Op. 62, No. 1

Book VI, Op. 67, No. 2

Mendelssohn, Rondo capriccioso, Op. 14

Schumann, Sonata in G minor, Op. 22

Liszt, Consolation No. III in D-flat major

Liszt, Concert Etude in D-flat major

Chopin, Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58

Encore: Mendelssohn, Song Without Words: “Spring Song”

Sunday, February 10, 2013 at 3 p.m.

1. Berg Sonata, Op. 1

Beethoven, Eroica Variations, Op. 35

Brahms, Andante & Variations, Op. 18 (String Sextet)

Brahms, Scherzo in E-flat minor, Op. 4

Liszt, Sonetto 104 del Petrarca

Liszt, Franziscus-Legende No. 1 (St. Francis Preaching to the Birds)

Verdi-Liszt, Rigoletto: Paraphrase

Encore: Schubert-Liszt, Soirées de Vienne, No. 6

Friday, March 8, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

VII.     Haydn, Variations in F minor, Hob. XVII:6  (Sonata – Un Piccolo Divertimento)

Schubert, Sonata in B-flat major, D. 960

Brahms, Three Intermezzi, Op. 117

Schumann, Fantasy in C major, Op. 17

Encore: Schumann “Träumerei”

Friday, April 5, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

VIII.   Beethoven, 33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op. 120

Beethoven, Hammerklavier Sonata, Op. 106

“Tim called Frank late one evening and asked if he had called too late. Frank told Tim that he was usually up every night until midnight playing the piano.

“Tim asked him how much playing he did every day.  He said that he usually played six hours, but on the days he went to his yoga class, he only played four hours.  He said this was how he was able to keep a concert schedule like the 2012-2013 season, which featured big and technically difficult works.

“Frank was so enthused about preparing the concerts for his 100th birthday that he already projecting what he might play for his 101st birthday!

“We feel so fortunate to have been able to get to know this remarkable person and to hear him play.

“There will be a memorial gathering announced at a later date.

“Best regards,

“Renee and Tim Farley”

Editor’s Note: Below is a YouTube video of Glazer playing the “Trois Gymnopedies” of the eccentric French composer Erik Satie. They possess the right contemplative and slightly sorrowful mood for memorial thoughts about  the end of a great life and great career. And if you click on Show More on the YouTube site, you can read the impressive biography of Glazer, who was born in Wisconsin and who studied with Artur Schnabel and Arnold Schoenberg in Berlin, Germany.