Alice Frisca
American pianist (1900–1960)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alice Frisca, born Alice Mayer (March 7, 1900 – January 24, 1960), was an American pianist.
March 7, 1900
Alice Frisca | |
|---|---|
 Alice Frisca, from a 1921 publication. | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Alice Mayer March 7, 1900 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 24, 1960 (aged 59) |
| Occupation | Pianist |
| Years active | 1920s |
Spouse |
Ralph Kirsch (m. 1922) |
Early life
Alice Mayer was born in San Francisco,[1] the daughter of Benjamin Mayer and Eva Mayer. Her stage name was a reference to the city of her birth.[citation needed] In 1920, she won the MacDowell Prize from the California Federation of Music Clubs.[2] She was a student of Pierre Douillet,[3] Clarence Eddy, and Leopold Godowsky.[4]
Career
She made her Paris debut in 1920,[5] and was awarded a medal for a concert she gave in 1921 in Paris, a benefit for French and Belgian artists in need after World War I.[6] "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."[7] Her New York debut a few months later drew similar critical appreciation,[8] though the New-York Tribune said that "Miss Frisca evidently mistakes force for brilliance," and said that she "more nearly resembled a noisy amateur than a professional pianist."[9]
Personal life
Alice Frisca married businessman Ralph Kirsch in San Francisco on December 28, 1922;[10] she subsequently retired from her performing career.[11] 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.[12] Alice Mayer Kirsch died of a heart attack in 1960 while accompanying her husband on a trip to Puerto Rico.[13]
