John Ogdon

John Andrew Howard Ogdon ( born January 27, 1937 in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire; † 1 August 1989 in London ) was an English pianist and composer.

Life

Ogdon first attended the Manchester Grammar School, after which he studied until 1957 at the Royal Manchester College of Music in Manchester ( the predecessor of the Royal Northern College of Music). His tutor was dortiger Claud Biggs. As a boy he had learned at Iso Elinson, and after college degree followed by further studies at Gordon Green, Denis Matthews and Myra Hess, and Egon Petri in Basel.

The 21 -year-old Ogdon experienced a sensational debut in London when he performed the mighty Piano Concerto Busoni under the direction of Henry Wood. 1961 Ogdon won first prize at the Liszt Competition in Budapest, and its international recognition strengthened in 1962 the first prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, which he shared with Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Ogdon loved to savor his eminent abilities to their limits and took such enormous challenges, working as the complete recording of the piano music of Rachmaninoff (published 2001). Previously, he had already taken the 10 piano sonatas of Scriabin. Ogdons repertoire included works by over 80 composers; next to the "classics " he sat down specifically for the unknown (eg alkane ) and contemporary British composers

Ogdons constitution was, despite impressive physical appearance, always unstable. In 1973 there was a serious breakdown, probably caused by schizophrenia or manic depression. Ogdon had a long time in a London hospital spending, and only came back in 1980 as a pianist in appearance. Among other things, he played at the opening of the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. In 1988 he published a comprehensive 4 CD recording of the Opus clavicembalisticum of Sorabji. Shortly thereafter, he died of pneumonia, caused by undiagnosed diabetes.

The BBC turned titled Virtuoso a film about the life of John Ogdon. Basis for such was his biography, which was written by his wife ( with whom he was married from 1960) and Brenda Lucas Ogdon piano partner. John Ogdon was played by Alfred Molina, who was rewarded for his performance with the Best Actor Award at the Royal Television Society.

Compositional work

As a composition student in Manchester Ogdon belonged to the circle of the New Music Manchester Group, together with fellow students as Birtwistle, Goehr and Davies. Among the nearly 200 works Ogdons to find piano pieces, chamber music (including a string quartet ) and a piano concerto. A symphony by Herman Melville and a comic opera remained unfinished.