CD-275: Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 14 and 20 - Hess, Walter

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Myra Hess, Piano Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Bruno Walter Broadcast performances - 17th January 1954; 4th March 1956 Original CD transfer by Music and Arts, 1988 XR remastering by Andrew Rose, April 2007 Download ID: 303748/332675 (Duration 54'32") Piano Concerto No. 14 in E flat major, K.449 Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466 Scroll down for covers and cue sheet downloads

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DAME MYRA HESS
by Peter Katin

Myra Hess was born in London on 25 February 1890 and died there on 25 November 1965. She made her debut in 1907 at the Queen's Hall with Sir Thomas Beecham, playing Beethoven's Fourth Concerto which brought her immediate acclaim and an international career that was extended to the USA in 1922, where she was always held in the highest esteem. Her repertoire was very extensive although later she confined it to a narrower range which enabled her to playa greater number of works by the composers she most favored - thus she made it possible to make a special study of all the Mozart Concertos, as well as developing her unique feeling for Schumann, Chopin and Brahms amongst others.

Her decision to start a series of lunchtime concerts at London's National Gallery when the outbreak of World War II closed all other London concert halls is of course legendary. There one could see her in a role as recitalist, chamber music player or concerto soloist, but she also brought a galaxy of known and unknown names to the series; I recall hearing the young Dennis Matthews playing a program that included the Brahms-Handel Variations, and also Benno Moiseiwitsch giving an unforgettable performance of the Chopin B- flat minor Sonata at the anniversary of Rachmaninov's death. I also have a memory of myself and a few other Westminster Abbey Choristers, concealed behind a curtain, singing "Good King Wenceslas" at the end of a carefully tailored recital by Harold Craxton. Myra Hess was made a DBE in 1941 "for her achievements as a public benefactor." It seems tragic that the recitals were terminated in 1946 (because the art collection was returned to the Gallery and its original purpose was resumed) but perhaps the collective impact of these concerts would have diminished if they had, so to speak, fizzled out in the upsurge of postwar music-making.

My first meeting with this lady was in 1948, a few months before my Wigmore Hall debut, and at the time it was an almost traumatic experience. Everyone to whom I had previously played had declared that I had "a great future" - a prophesy as oftmade in those days as it was dangerous - and I had rarely heard a word of criticism. Dame Myra met me at the door, a short, fat and genial person who in two minutes had tactfully removed most of my long-lived shyness. It was soon to be replaced by a feeling of living through a musical nightmare. If an innocent cup of English tea can curdle in the stomach it turned to concrete in mine. I got through the first movement of Mozart's B-flat Sonata, with a growing sense of disapproval radiating with excellent clarity from the other side of the room. "But you don't really play at all! You only play to yourself - you make me feel that I am overhearing something that you didn't want me to hear. Play me something else." With dying confidence I embarked on the early C- major Sonata of Beethoven. "No, no, start it again." I did so. "You can't play that either. Play me something else." I grimly launched into Chopin's B- flat minor Scherzo and got to the end of the opening section. "That's better. Now come over here and talk to me." This of course meant that she did all the talking, but in the course of the next two hours she set about me like a dervish. I played in whispers. I probably felt the music but I didn't communicate. It was too soon for a Wigmore debut. And, if I wanted her to be really brutal, I should find out if I had what it took. I went out and wept. Months later it occurred to me (after I had been told by others who knew her) that if she hadn't sensed something worth taking trouble over, I would have been shown to the door in ten minutes. And after all these years, I have remained grateful to her for dragging me out of my youthf ul cocoon of ignorance, much as it hurt at the time...

Excerpt from the sleevenotes ©1988 Peter Katin

Find out more:   Piano Concerto No. 14 in E flat : 3. Allegro ma non troppo CD covers to print:   CD-writing cuesheet: [What's that?]

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