Benjamin Frith
Pianist Benjamin Frith's international solo and chamber music career was launched following several prestigious competition wins. Reaching a broad audience through his recordings, Frith is well-regarded for his sensitivity as a performer. His repertoire, which includes more than 50 concertos, ranges from Bach and Scarlatti to Stravinsky and Tippett. He has been a member of the Gould Piano Trio since 1998.
Frith was born in South Yorkshire, England, on October 11, 1957. He began taking piano lessons with Fanny Waterman at age ten. He was encouraged by Waterman to pursue a career after winning the Dudley National Piano Competition in 1972, at age 14. Following Frith's Dudley win, Peter Pears asked him to play at the Aldeburgh Festival. Frith attended the University of Leeds and graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in music. While a student, he took second place at the 1978 London Mozart Players' Mozart Memorial Prize competition. He gained international attention with two major prizes, the first at the 1986 Busoni International Piano Competition, where he shared the top prize with Predrag Muzijevic, and in 1989, he won the gold medal and chamber music prize at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Israel.
Frith has since toured throughout Europe, North America, and Asia, appearing with major orchestras, including the Warsaw Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, and Israel Philharmonic, among many others. He has also been a regular guest at festivals, such as the Kfar Blum, King's Lynn, and Edinburgh; he made a big impression in his debut at Edinburgh in 1992 with a performance of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. A long-time chamber music enthusiast, Frith joined the Gould Piano Trio in 1998, and in 2001, he founded the Frith Piano Quartet with violinist Robert Heard, violist Louise Williams, and cellist Richard Jenkinson. He regularly performs piano duos with Peter Hill and has been a featured guest with the Endellion, Dante, and Elias string quartets, among others.
Frith's expansive recording catalog features many examples of his solo, concerto, and chamber activities. His recording career began with a 1991 ASV release containing Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, and he has since recorded the complete piano music of John Field and Felix Mendelssohn. With the Gould Piano Trio, he has released a complete cycle of Beethoven's piano trios and has future aspirations to record a survey of Schubert's piano trios. Frith was featured in several releases in 2020, including piano trios by Clarke, Ives, and Beach, with the Gould Piano Trio, and Beethoven's works for piano four hands, with Hill.
© Keith Finke /TiVo
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Elgar: Re-discovered works for violin
Marat Bisengaliev, Benjamin Frith
Klassiek - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 jan. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Keys, Sibelius & Brahms: Works for Cello & Piano
Rohan de Saram, Benjamin Frith
Duo´s - Released by First Hand Records on 13 jan. 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sonates pour violon n°1 & 2 - Sonate pour violoncelle
Lucy Gould, Alice Neary, Benjamin Frith
Kamermuziek - Released by Naxos on 24 aug. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
CHOPIN: Piano Concerto No. 2 / FIELD: Piano Concerto No. 1
Idil Biret, Benjamin Frith, Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Robert Stankovsky
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 11 aug. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concertos Nos. 5 and 6
Benjamin Frith, Northern Sinfonia, David Haslam
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 14 feb. 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BAX: Clarinet Sonatas / Piano Trio / Trio in One Movement
Gould Piano Trio, Robert Plane, Alice Neary, Benjamin Frith
Kamermuziek - Released by Naxos on 2 mei 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sonata in G Minor / Fantasia, Op. 15 / Variations, Op. 83
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 16 jan. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stanford: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Works for Solo Piano
Benjamin Frith, BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Andrew Gourlay
Concertmuziek - Released by Champs Hill Records on 26 feb. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
7 Characteristic Pieces, Op. 7 / Fantasia, Op. 28
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 26 feb. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 4
Benjamin Frith, Northern Sinfonia, David Haslam
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 27 mei 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MENDELSSOHN: Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings / Violin Concerto in D minor
Marat Bisengaliev, Benjamin Frith, Northern Sinfonia, Andrew Penny
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 7 aug. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music for Two Pianos
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 26 apr. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3
Benjamin Frith, Northern Sinfonia, David Haslam
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 8 okt. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sonatina for Violin and Piano: II. Andante affettuoso
Kamermuziek - Released by Resonus Classics on 3 feb. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
BRAHMS / MENDELSSOHN: Piano Concertos
Jenő Jandó, Benjamin Frith, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Antoni Wit, Robert Stankovsky
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 28 sep. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MENDELSSOHN: Concertos for Two Pianos in A Flat Major and E Major
Benjamin Frith, Hugh Tinney, RTE Sinfonietta, Proinnsías O Duinn
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 17 sep. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Drifting Away for Clarinet and Piano
Kamermuziek - Released by Resonus Classics on 20 jan. 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
MENDELSSOHN / LISZT / GRIEG: Piano Concertos
Klassiek - Released by Naxos on 19 okt. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: His Music
Klassiek - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 27 jun. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Josephs, W.: Works for Clarinet
Linda Merrick, Kreutzer Quartet, Benjamin Frith
Kamermuziek - Released by Metier on 25 mrt. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo