Background
He was born in Baden, near Zurich, Switzerland in 1889.
composer music educator pianist university professor
He was born in Baden, near Zurich, Switzerland in 1889.
He studied with Otto Barblan, Willy Rehberg and Joseph Lauber at the Geneva Conservatory 1902-1905, then at the Conservatoire de Paris with Louis Diémer (piano) and Gabriel Fauré and Charles-Marie Widor (composition).
He became a court pianist in Bucharest after 1907. In 1908 he and Xaver Scharwenka gave a private performance on two pianos of Scharwenka"s Piano Concerto Number. 4 in F minor to its dedicatee Queen Elisabeth of Romania.
The next day it was performed publicly with orchestra.
The composer conducted and Frey was the soloist. George Enescu dedicated his Piano Sonata Number.
1 in F-sharp minor, Operation 24/1 to Emil Frey. This led to an engagement as Professor of the Virtuoso Class at the Moscow Conservatory 1912-1917.
Back in Switzerland after the Russian Revolution, he taught at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste until his death, directing the piano finishing class there from 1922.
His students included Victor Fenigstein, Peter Mieg and Adrian Aeschbacher. Rudolf Am Bach studied with him privately. He also concertised in Berlin, and toured throughout Europe and South America.
He was considered among the leading Swiss pianists, his playing being noted for its extreme delicacy of feeling combined with brilliance of execution.
He died in Zurich on 20 May 1946, aged 57.