ALFRED GRUNFELD (1852-1924)
Austrian pianist

Alfred Grunfeld studied at the Prague Conservatory and subsequently in Berlin under Theodor Kullak.  A resident of Vienna from 1873, he concertized all over Europe and the United States. He was appointed court pianist to Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany, honored by Czar Alexander III, and became a professor at the Vienna Conservatory in 1897.

He was an important figure in the musical world, knew Brahms, J Strauss II, and Leschetizky.  He championed the works of Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Schumann, Schubert, Brahms, and often performed new works by living composers including such as Grieg and Korngold.  And he was the first of the great pianists of note to make commercial recordings. Korngold's Op 3 heard below was the first commercial recording of any work by that young genius. 

His playing was praised by Hans von Bulow and the incredibly difficult to please critic, Eduard Hanslick.

Alfred Grunfeld was also a prolific composer and some of his own compositions and arrangements can be heard below.  And do not fail to listen to thetwo recordings of the "Liebestod" which are lessons in the pianistic style of the end of the 19th century.

Grünfeld  Etude a la Tarantella

recorded in 1905