The classical music world lost one of its greatest pianists a few weeks ago - Earl Wild, who, in addition to being probably the first pianist to play on television, was of a pianistic lineage mere steps from the heart of the Romantic pianistic tradition.
I can think of no other American pianist who was connected to so many great pianists and teachers of the nineteenth century. As a student of Selmar Jansen, he was directly linked to the teaching of Franz Liszt through Jansen's teachers Eugen D'Albert and Xavier Scharwenka. He came into contact with the style of Busoni through his studies with Egon Petri, and to the tradition of Jan Ignace Paderewski through his work with Paul Doguereau. He could also trace lineage back to Camille Saint-Saëns through Volya Cossack, who was a pupil of Saint-Saëns's student Isidore Philippe.
Some remembrances of his legacy from the last few weeks:
Allan Koznin in the NY Times
Stephen Hough in the Telegraph
More from the Telegraph
CBC News
BBC News
Tim Smith in the Baltimore Sun
Martin Steinberg for Canadian Press
Martin Steinberg for Associated Press
Randy Ludlow in the Columbus Dispatch
Wikipedia article
The official Earl Wild website
Earl Wild playing Liszt's Le Leggierezza:
