Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1919, the pianist Frida Bauer is best known for her recordings with the violinist David Oistrakh. Bauer was a favourite pupil of Konstantin Igumnov at the Moscow Conservatory, where her natural musicianship and abilities as a sympathetic accompanist quickly became apparent. She toured with Soviet violinists and cellists and established her reputation as a pianist who provided sensitive musical support without dominating her higher-profile soloists. After giving concerts with the cellists Daniil Shafran and Mstislav Rostropovich, and with the violinist Igor Oistrakh, David Oistrakh asked her to become his regular musical partner in 1960. Bauer’s finest recordings are with David Oistrakh, including violin sonatas by Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Prokofiev and Ravel, many preserved from radio broadcasts of live performances. Among her best recordings is the live account of Bartók’s Violin Sonata No. 1 from Prague in 1972, where Oistrakh’s dramatic playing is balanced by Bauer’s control, grounding a performance renowned for its involving spontaneity. After Oistrakh died in 1974, Bauer recorded the Brahms violin sonatas with Grigori Zhislin in 1989. She died in 2016.