Raymond Lewenthal was an American pianist and music educator, born in San Antonio, Texas, on August 29, 1923. His parents were of French and Russian origin. As a child, he played many juvenile roles in Hollywood films; his records were apparently altered to make him three years younger, which is why 1926 is often given as his birth year.
In 1945, Lewenthal won all three of California’s major competitions for young musicians, including a University of California competition judged by Bruno Walter. He then moved to New York and studied at the Juilliard School with Olga Samaroff. His major performing debut came in 1948, when he played Sergei Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Dimitri Mitropoulos. Mitropoulos, known for performing the solo part himself, had not previously entrusted it to another pianist as a conductor. Lewenthal toured successfully in the United States for the next five years.
In 1953, Lewenthal was attacked by a gang in New York’s Central Park and suffered fractures to the bones in his hands at seven points. The injuries did not prevent him from playing after he recovered, but he did not return to the concert stage. He left the United States in 1956 and lived in Europe in severe poverty. A job offer in Rio de Janeiro proved mistaken, and he earned money through occasional lessons to pay for his departure from Brazil. He returned to the United States in 1961.
After his return, Lewenthal turned to the music of the nearly forgotten French composer Charles-Valentin Alkan. His first public presentation of Alkan’s music was a two-hour radio program combining performances with accounts of the composer’s life. The broadcast was a success and led to a recording offer. In 1964, after a 12-year break, Lewenthal made his New York concert debut with a program devoted entirely to Alkan. A subsequent three-concert series of music by Franz Liszt, together with the Alkan concert, helped launch what became known as the “Romantic revival,” which brought chamber and solo works by little-performed 19th-century composers such as Alkan, Ignaz Moscheles, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Xaver Scharwenka back into the concert repertoire.
Lewenthal later took an active part in the Indianapolis Festival of Romantic Music, taught, and released several recordings. He also worked as an editor and compiler, preparing and annotating collections including Piano Music for One Hand and Encores of Famous Pianists. He died in Hudson, New York, on November 21, 1988.