Hungarian pianist Peter Frankl celebrates his 90th birthday on October 2, 2025. The distinguished artist was a student of a number of important pedagogues, two key figures in his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest including Leó Weiner – responsible for training several legendary musicians, among them Antal Doráti, Georg Solti, Tibor Varga, Edmund Kurtz, János Starker, and György Sebők – and Lajos Hernádi, who had been a pupil of Bartók, Dohnányi, and Schnabel.
After his honourable mention at the 5th International Chopin Competition alongside his compatriot Tamás Vásáry – both of whom were featured in a related Supraphon LP in 1955 – Frankl began to record extensively for the Vox label, including the complete solo piano music of both Debussy and Schumann. He recorded a wide array of solo music, including Scarlatti, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, as well as a a significant amount of chamber music, from Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and Dvorak to Bartók and Dohnányi.
Here is a truly insightful February 10, 1985 conversation with David Dubal, in which he speaks about his training in Hungary, the life of the touring artist, and some of the musicians he’s worked with; the episode also features some of Frankl’s very fine recordings.
As recounted in the interview with Dubal, Frankl spent several years recording the complete piano music of Schumann, a composer for whom he felt great affinity from a young age. Here is a superb account of the Faschingsschwank aus Wien Op.26 – recorded by Vox at Decca’s studios in October 1972. The work is despatched with a combination of gusto and lyrical sensitivity, brought to life with Frankl’s beautiful tonal colours, rhythmic vitality, and impeccably poised voicing.
A less-known work from his Schumann cycle is this fantastic June 1977 account of the Impromptus on a Theme by Clara Wieck Op.5, which captures his tonal colours and wonderfully varied articulation to perfection.
From his complete Debussy cycle, here is a superb account of Reflets dans l’eau, with sumptuous tone and pedal effects (appreciable despite the rather ‘dry’ acoustic of the studio).
A wonderful example of his collaborative music-making comes from a recording after his long association with Turnabout/Vox, a September 1995 recording for EMI of the Brahms Violin Sonata No.2 in A Major Op.100 with Kyung Wha Chung.
As is the case with many musicians, one can appreciate even more of Frankl’s artistry in live performance, and I am pleased to share two unpublished Mozart Concerto performances in Cleveland, both with legendary compatriots of the soloist on the podium. First off, a January 5, 1967 concert performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.22 K.482 with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell, which showcases the beauty of Frankl’s sumptuous singing sonority far more than do many of his studio recordings.
Just a few years later in the same venue, we have Frankl in a January 25, 1973 performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.27 K.595 together with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by István Kertész. (Apparently the Cleveland musicians loved playing for Kertesz and hoped he would be Szell’s successor.) The rapport between orchestra and soloist is superbly accomplished, and once again Frankl’s lovely tone and fluid phrasing are wonderfully captured.
Many happy returns, Maestro Frankl!