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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Field: Piano Concertos, Nocturnes & Sonatas
Benjamin Frith, Northern Sinfonia, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, David Haslam, Andrew Mogrelia
Classical - Released by Naxos on 11 Jan 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gardens, Fables, Prisons, Dreams
Pénélope Thwaites, Benjamin Frith, Tippett Quartet
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on 21 Jul 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Musique pour violon
Marat Bisengaliev, West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra, Benjamin Frith, Camilla Bisengalieva, Bundit Ungrangsee
Chamber Music - Released by Naxos on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Field: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 7 and Piano Sonata No. 4
Benjamin Frith, Northern Sinfonia, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, David Haslam, Andrew Mogrelia
Classical - Released by Naxos on 12 Aug 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Capriccio Brillant / Rondo Brillant
Benjamin Frith, Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Stankovsky
Concertos - Released by Naxos on 16 Nov 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stanford: Chamber Works
Krysia Osostowicz, Yuko Inoue, Benjamin Frith, Richard Jenkinson, Ralph de Souza, Garfield Jackson
Chamber Music - Released by SOMM Recordings on 20 Nov 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann, R.: Davidsbundlertanze, Op. 6 / 8 Fantasiestücke, Op. 12
Classical - Released by Naxos on 16 Sep 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn, Hensel & Sterndale Bennett: Sonatas for Cello & Piano
Chamber Music - Released by Champs Hill Records on 30 Sep 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sonata in E Major / Variations serieuses / Preludes and Etudes, Op. 104
Classical - Released by Naxos on 21 Nov 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Music, Vol. 1
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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SCHUMANN, R.: Fantasiestucke, Op. 12 / BRAHMS: Klavierstucke, Op. 118
Jenő Jandó, Benjamin Frith, Idil Biret
Classical - Released by Naxos on 18 Dec 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sonata in B Flat Major / Fantasies, Op. 16
Classical - Released by Naxos on 3 Sep 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sonates pour clavier (Intégrale, volume 5)
Classical - Released by Naxos on 18 Jan 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In the Mountain Country
Ulster Orchestra, Benjamin Frith, JoAnn Falletta
Classical - Released by Naxos on 6 Jan 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Works for Piano Four Hands
Classical - Released by Delphian Records on 31 Jan 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concerto / Ritual Dances from The Midsummer Marriage
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Frith, George Hurst
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Sep 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Musique de chambre
Gould Piano Trio, Lucy Gould, Benjamin Frith, David Adams
Chamber Music - Released by Naxos on 5 Jul 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Moon Sails Out
Richard Jenkinson, Benjamin Frith
Classical - Released by EM Records on 1 May 2015
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
Chamber Music - Released by Naxos on 2 May 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Polacca brillante
Benjamin Frith, RTE Sinfonietta, Proinnsías O Duinn
Keyboard Concertos - Released by Naxos on 2 Oct 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo