Philadelphia-born “supervirtuoso” Abbey Simon has died, just a few weeks shy of his 100th birthday. Simon studied with legendary pianists Josef Hofmann (at the Curtis Institute of Music) and Leopold Godowsky. It was New York Times critic Harold Schonberg who lent him his supermemorable title. Simon died in Geneva on December 18.

Simon plays Ravel, “Alborada del gracioso”:

A conversation with Abbey Simon:

Obituary in the New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/21/arts/music/abbey-simon-dead.html

“If I retire in January, I’ll be dead by May… Music has been my whole life.”