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Alice Frisca

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American pianist
Alice Frisca, from a 1921 publication.

Alice Frisca (March 7, 1900 — January 24, 1960) was the professional name of Alice Mayer, an American pianist.

Early life

Alice Mayer was from San Francisco, California, the daughter of Benjamin Mayer and Eva Mayer. Her stage name was a reference to that city. As a young woman, she won the MacDowell Prize from the California Federation of Music Clubs. She was a student of Pierre Douillet, Clarence Eddy, and Leopold Godowsky.

Career

She made her Paris debut in 1920, and was honored with a medal for a concert she gave in 1921 in Paris, a benefit for French and Belgian artists in need after World War I. "She has a conspicuously neat and fluent technique," noted critic Alfred Kalisch, writing in The Musical Times of her London debut in 1921, "and a touch of no little charm." Her New York debut a few months later drew similar critical appreciation, though the New-York Tribune scoffed that "Miss Frisca evidently mistakes force for brilliance," and said that she "more nearly resembled a noisy amateur than a professional pianist."

Personal life

Alice Frisca married businessman Ralph Kirsch in New York, and left behind her performing career. Her husband's nephew, Harold C. Schonberg, was the Pulitzer Prize-winning chief music critic at The New York Times from 1960 to 1980; he cited her as his first piano teacher and an important early influence on his understanding of music. Alice Mayer Kirsch died in 1960, aged 59 years, while in Puerto Rico with her husband.

References

  1. Walter Anthony, "Pianist of 17 Makes Her Debut A Big Success" San Francisco Chronicle (September 19, 1917): 8. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  2. "Pianist is Winner of Contest for Artists" San Francisco Chronicle (May 9, 1920): 3. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  3. "Alice Mayer Praised at Pianistic Debut" San Francisco Chronicle (September 23, 1917): 7. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  4. "Alice Mayer to Leave for Paris" Pacific Coast Musical Review (June 19, 1920): 9.
  5. "Alice Frisca Conquers Paris" Music News (December 24, 1920): 27.
  6. "Alice Frisca Honored For her Paris Concert in Aid of Artists" Musical America (February 13, 1921): 21.
  7. Alfred Kalisch, "London Concerts", The Musical Times (May 1, 1921): 340.
  8. "Alice Frisca's New York Debut" Pacific Coast Musical Review (November 19, 1921): 52.
  9. "Alice Frisca Makes New York Debut in Recital at Aeolian" New-York Tribune (October 7, 1921): 8. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  10. Harold C. Schonberg, Facing the Music (Simon & Schuster 1985): 15. ISBN 9780671605636
  11. Allan Kozinn, "Harold C. Schonberg, 87, Dies; Won Pulitzer Prize as Music Critic for The Times" New York Times (July 27, 2003).
  12. "Mrs. Ralph Kirsch" New York Times (January 27, 1960): 33.
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