Gold, Arthur

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Gold, Arthur

Gold, Arthur, Canadian pianist; b. Toronto, Feb. 6, 1917; d. N.Y., Jan. 3, 1990. He studied with Josef and Rosina Lhevinne at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. Upon graduation, he formed a piano duo with Robert Fizdale with whom he gave numerous concerts in Europe and America, in programs of modern music, including works specially written for them by such celebrated composers as Barber, Milhaud, Poulenc, Auric, and Thomson. They also pioneered performances of works by Cage for prepared piano. With Fizdale, he publ. a successful book, Misia (N.Y., 1979), on the life of Maria Godebska, a literary and musical figure in Paris early in the century. Gold retired in 1982, and in a spirit of innocent but practical amusement he publ., with Fizdale, The Gold and Fizdale Cookbook (1983).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire