Leonid Hambro led many lives from behind the keyboard of a grand piano, crossing over from classical to popular music and back again, with side trips into comedy. The virtuoso was noted for his prodigious memory, improvising genius, and sense of humor -- which enabled him to play straight man as Victor Borge and on the compositions attributed to P.D.Q. Bach -- but also as the official pianist for WQXR, New York's premiere classical radio station for decades. He was born in Chicago in 1920, the son of Simeon Musicant, who was himself a son of Russian musicians (who changed his ...