Mewton-Wood plays Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 35 - Part 2/4

Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 35

I. Allegro Moderato
II. Lento
III. Moderato
IV. Allegro Con Brio

Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Performers: Noel Mewton-Wood (piano) (1922-1953) & Concert Hall Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Walter Goehr (1903-1960)

Noel Mewton-Wood (20 November 1922 5 December 1953) was an Australian-born concert pianist who achieved some fame during his short life.
Born in Melbourne, he studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium until the age of fourteen. After further studies at London's Royal Academy of Music, Mewton-Wood spent time with Artur Schnabel in Italy.
In March 1940, he returned to London for his debut performance at Queen's Hall, performing Beethoven's third piano concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Thomas Beecham. He later performed in France, Germany, South Africa, Poland, Turkey and Australia.
At the age of thirty-one, Mewton-Wood committed suicide by drinking prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide), apparently blaming himself for the death of a friend. The notes written by a friend of Mewton-Wood, John Amis, for the reissue of the Bliss Concerto recording, indicate that Mewton-Wood was gay and was depressed by the recent death of his lover.
Mewton-Wood's The Times obituary of December 7, 1953 described his playing style at his debut performance: At once his remarkable control and his musicianship were apparent: the ascending scales in octaves, with which the pianist first enters, thundered out with whirlwind power, but he could summon beautiful cantabile tone for the slow movement and the phrasing of the rondo theme was admirably neat for all the rapidity of the tempo; a true understanding of the relationship in concerto between soloist and orchestra, and of the soloist's part in ensemble, betokened the musician, the potential chamber performer."
He also composed chamber music, a piano concerto, ballet music, and music for the 1944 film Tawny Pipit as well as the 1950 film Chance of a Lifetime.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Mewton-Wood

An interesting news article on his death:
http://www.lagna.org.uk/archive/noel-mewton-wood

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Mewton-Wood
• Dmitri
• Shostakovich
• Piano
• Concerto

[slothvader]

sublime.

[char908]

My fav in the piano concertos. Thankfully, I  have a of them for violin cello and piano