Claude Frank and Lilian Kallir Collection

Claude Frank was born in Nurenberg, Germany on December 24, 1925. At age 12 he went to live in Brussels and then Paris, where he studied at the Paris Conservatoire. The German occupation forced him to leave France. He came to the U.S. in 1941 and studied at Columbia University in New York City. Frank also studied privately for nearly ten years with Artur Schnabel. He debuted with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic in 1959 and began a touring career that covered six continents. A milestone of Frank’s career was RCA’s release of his recordings of the 32 Beethoven Sonatas to critical acclaim, and his worldwide performances of the cycle. Frank was also dedicated to the chamber music repertoire, and throughout his career he performed and taught at the Marlboro and Norfolk Music Festivals, in addition to his performances with the Boston Symphony Chamber Music Players, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Emerson, Juilliard and Tokyo Quartets, Alexander Schneider’s chamber ensembles and his collaborations with his daughter, violinist Pamela Frank (with whom he recorded Beethoven’s 10 Sonatas for Violin and Piano), and his wife, pianist Lilian Kallir. He also has had a successful career as an instructor, teaching at the Yale School of Music, the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Kansas, among others. His recordings have appeared on the RCA Victor, Music & Arts, and MusicMasters labels. Claude Frank died in New York on December 27, 2014, at age 89.

Lilian Kallir was born in Prague on May 6, 1931. After her arrival in New York in 1940 she studied with Herman de Grab and Isabelle Vengerova. Her professional career began at age 17, when she made her debut with Dimitri Mitropoulos and the New York Philharmonic. She performed as soloist with the major symphony orchestras of the world such as the Boston, Chicago, London, Leipzig Gewandhaus and Vienna Symphony Orchestras, and she appeared with many of the leading conductors of her time such as von Karajan, Giulini, Leinsdorf, Skrowaczewski and Jochum. A distinguished Mozart player, Kallir appeared frequently in the Mostly Mozart Festival of the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers, and the Midsummer Mozart Festival in San Francisco. She collaborated in chamber music concerts with Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Stolzman, and the Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard and Tokyo Quartets. She married Claude Frank in 1959, and the two appeared in concert regularly in recital and as soloists. Lilian Kallir died on October 25, 2004.