David Fray (born 24 May 1981) is a French classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. Voted "Newcomer of the Year 2008" by the ''BBC Music Magazine'', He gained attention for his musical interpretation as well as his eccentricities in performance and rehearsal, which were highlighted in the 2008

ARTE Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

documentary about him titled ''Swing, Sting and Think''.

Biography

David Fray was born in

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon language, Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of southwestern France. It is ...

, near the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

into a Jewish family. Both his parents are teachers, his father's subject being philosophy and his mother's German. Fray entered the professional classical music world after receiving the Second Grand Prize at the

Montreal International Music Competition The Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) is an elite-level competition for classical musicians who are interested in pursuing an international career as a professional concert artist. Established in 2001 by the late André Bourbeau a ...

in 2004. After this acclaim he released "Schubert, Liszt", a CD compilation of works by the two composers, on the

ATMA Classique ATMA Classique is an independent classical record label based in Montreal, and welcomes artists from Quebec, across Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territorie ...

label. More recently, he has done video recordings of piano concertos by J.S. Bach with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, as well as Schubert's

Wanderer Fantasy The Fantasie in C major, Op. 15 ( D. 760), popularly known as the ''Wanderer Fantasy'', is a four-movement fantasy for solo piano composed by Franz Schubert in 1822. It is widely considered Schubert's most technically demanding composition for th ...

during the Festival of La Roque d'Anthéron. In 2008 he released a second CD, "Bach /

Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

Piano Recital", which was another compilation of two composers from separate musical periods. He has performed with many established conductors such as John Axelrod,

Kurt Masur Kurt Masur (; 18 July 192719 December 2015) was a German Conducting, conductor. Called "one of the last old-style maestros", he directed many of the principal orchestras of his era. He had a long career as the Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewand ...

, Jaap van Zweden and

Christoph Eschenbach Christoph Eschenbach (; born 20 February 1940) is a German pianist and conductor. Early life Eschenbach was born on 20 February 1940 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) as Christoph Ringmann. His parents were Margarethe (née Jaross), a ...

. Fray has won a number of awards, including the "Révélation Classique" (Classical Discovery) from ADAMI, the "Jeune Soliste de l'Année" (Young Soloist of the Year) from the French Language Public Radio Coalition, and the Diploma for Outstanding Merit from the

Hamamatsu is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the t ...

Competition.

Personal life

In July 2007 Fray married actress (daughter of conductor

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

), with whom he has a daughter.

Playing style

Fray's love of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

and his playful, idiosyncratic appearance in the ARTE documentary, in which he excitedly bobs his eyebrows, bends low over the piano while seated on a backed chair, hums along with the orchestra, and jokes with his fellow musicians, have caused him to be compared with pianist

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; 25 September 19324 October 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was among the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian ...

. However, Fray's style is radically different from Gould's—it is fluid where Gould's was sharply articulate. Fray has said that he is "not such a fan of Glenn Gould" and that pianist

Wilhelm Kempff Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff (25 November 1895 – 23 May 1991) was a German pianist, teacher and composer. Although his repertoire included Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms, Kempff was particularly well known for his interp ...

is an especially important influence: "What I love about his playing is that he makes the piano sing and speak. That is my ultimate goal.”

Recordings

* Schubert: Fantasia in C Major/Lieder Transcriptions/Sonata / David Fray (Atma 2005) * Bach: Partita in D major; French Suite BWV 812 in B minor / Boulez: Douze Notations pour piano; "Incises" / David Fray (Virgin Classics 2007) * Bach: Keyboard Concertos BWV 1052, 1055, 1056 & 1058 / David Fray, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Virgin Classics 2008) * Swing, Sing & Think. David Fray Records J.S. Bach / A film by

Bruno Monsaingeon Bruno Monsaingeon (; born 5 December 1943) is a French filmmaker, writer, and violinist. He has made a number of documentary films about famous twentieth-century musicians, including Glenn Gould, Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, Piotr Andersze ...

(Virgin Classics DVD 2008) * Schubert: Impromptus Op.90, Moments Musicaux, Allegretto in C minor / David Fray (Virgin Classics 2009) * Mozart: Piano Concertos 22 & 25 / David Fray, Philharmonia Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden (Virgin Classics 2010) * David Fray Records Mozart – Piano Concertos Nos.22 & 25 / A film by

(Virgin Classics DVD 2011) * Bach: Partitas Nos. 2 & 6, Toccata BWV 911 / David Fray (Virgin Classics 2013) * Schubert: Sonata in G D894 ‘Fantasie’, the Hungarian Melody D817, the Fantasia in F minor D940, and the towering Allegro in A minor D947, ‘Lebensstürme’ (‘Storms of Life’) / David Fray, duets with Jacques Rouvier (Virgin Classics 2015) *Chopin: / David Fray (Erato/Warner Classics 2017) *Bach: Concertos for 2, 3 & 4 pianos / David Fray (Erato/Warner Classics 2018) *Bach: Sonatas / Renaud Capucon, David Fray / Erato/Warner Classics 2019) *Bach: Goldberg Variations (Erato/Warner Classics 2021)

References

External links

David Fray's official websiteDavid Fray on Warner Classics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fray, David 1981 births Living people 21st-century French male classical pianists 21st-century French classical pianists People from Tarbes Erato Records artists Jewish French artists