Biography

Considered to be one of the greatest American pianists; one of his specialties was the music of George Gershwin. He recorded Gershwin's piano music with such renowned conductors as Arturo Toscanini and Arthur Fiedler. He was also famous for his recordings of all four Rachmaninoff concertos. He did not work exclusively in classical music. He was not afraid to appear on TV variety shows and popular radio programs, which may explain why his career was overshadowed by such pianists as Van Cliburn, though he is regarded as being equal to and superior to Cliburn by many critics.

He was only twenty-one when he first performed and recorded Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue". This recording was conducted by Arturo Toscanini and also featured the NBC Symphony Orchestra.. In the stereo era, Wild would re-record the piece with Arthur Fiedler conducting the Boston Pops. He also recorded Gershwin's "Piano Concerto in F".

He was a 20th-century media pioneer of sorts. In 1939, he made the first TV broadcast by a pianist. In 1942, Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" was performed on TV for the first time, with Wild at the keyboard. And in 1997, piano music was streamed over the Internet for the first time, as performed by Wild.