Earl Wild

NEW YORK (AP) - Grammy-winning pianist Earl Wild, who learned his craft from students of Liszt and Ravel and became one of America's masters of the keyboard, has died at age 94.

Wild died of congestive heart disease Saturday at his home in Palm Springs, Calif., publicist Mary Lou Falcone said Monday.

Despite his advanced age, Wild continued to teach until last week - he listened to a pupil play his "Porgy and Bess Fantasy," said Michael Rolland Davis, his companion of 38 years and sole survivor.

Wild's last public performance was at age 92 at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, where he was presented with the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences' Presidential Merit Award.

In 2005, he gave a robust recital at Carnegie Hall to celebrate his 90th birthday, displaying great elegance with his thick white hair and nimble fingers. At that concert, which came months after a quadruple bypass and two eye operations, the 6-foot-1 Wild walked slowly to the piano before settling into a 90-minute performance. He played eight works by memory, never losing his way.

Months earlier, his 57th album - "Living History" - was released. In all, Wild recorded more than 35 piano concertos and 700 solo pieces.

His other awards include being named Musical America's Instrumentalist of the Year in 2005. He won his Grammy in 1996 for best instrumental soloist performance for his album "The Romantic Master," which included works by Saint-Saens and Handel.

Born in Pittsburgh, Wild started playing the piano at age 3 and studied with teachers who were taught by Ravel, Ignace Jan Paderewski and Ferruccio Busoni. Two of his other teachers studied with pupils of Liszt.

His earliest musical memories dated to 1918, when his mother brought home a recording of the opera "Norma."

"It starts with a G minor chord, just three notes," Wild recalled during a 2005 interview with The Associated Press. "I was a little thing and I reached up on the piano and played it. So they knew I was musical."

He said he started taking lessons and liked to practice to drown out the quarreling between his parents. "Practice was a refuge," he said.

In 1937, he joined the NBC Symphony as a staff pianist, performing under Arturo Toscanini. During an NBC broadcast two years later, he became the first pianist to give a solo recital on American television.

Wild went on to perform in countless orchestras, including those led by Fritz Reiner and Otto Klemperer.

He also played and wrote music for comedian Sid Caesar for three years and performed for six American presidents, from Herbert Hoover to Lyndon Johnson.

During the 2005 interview, Wild vowed never to stop being active.

"When people are alive and they are able to do something, they should do something even if it's basket weaving, because to not do something is to give up. ... So never give up."

His memoirs will be published soon by Carnegie Mellon Press, according to his Web site.

No memorial service is planned, Falcone said.

"He said he didn't want one," she said.


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