Leonid Hambro; Facile Pianist Of the Comical and Classical

Mr. Hambro's father, a Russian immigrant who was a pianist for silent movies, wrote the names of musical works on cards, then asked his son to draw a card and play the piece from memory. Throughout his life, Mr. Hambro printed musical titles on decks of cards, which he used to organize his practice sessions. Besides his expertise at cards, he often played chess -- once with Bobby Fischer.

Mr. Hambro studied for five years at Juilliard, where he later served on the faculty, and was a musician in the Navy during World War II. He won prestigious awards, played in chamber groups and became a radio musician, which required him to perform in different settings each week.

In 1952, substituting for an ailing pianist, Mr. Hambro had 24 hours to learn a demanding piano concerto by German composer Paul Hindemith. After the successful performance, Hindemith pronounced Mr. Hambro's feat "a miracle."

He was chosen by the son of Bela Bartok to record the composer's complete piano works and also made recordings with the Juilliard String Quartet and violinists Oscar Shumsky and Josef Szigeti. After working with Borge in the 1960s, Mr. Hambro occasionally performed with another musical jokester, Peter Schickele, also known as P.D.Q. Bach.

In 1970, Mr. Hambro moved to California, where he led the piano department at the California Institute of the Arts for more than 20 years and had a weekly radio program. He also played and taught at chamber music festivals in Colorado and Florida for several years.

In 1984, he formed the Hambro Quartet of Pianos, a group of "tremendous finger-wigglers" with which he toured for 15 years. He continued to teach master piano classes and to give musical talks and performances until last month.

"My attempt is, like a missionary, to get people to hear Mozart and Bach so they can see they are not so bad after all," Mr. Hambro said.

In addition to his wife of 55 years, of New York, survivors include a son, Simeon Hambro of Minneapolis; a sister; and a granddaughter. A daughter, Aralee Hambro, died in 1995.