|
|
 
Contacting us Parish Priest
Church Wardens
Web Admin
Click on any image to see a larger picture
|
DAME MYRA HESS
Dame Myra Hess was a marvellous pianist, and really is so well known that it is difficult to know where to start in what to say about her! She is perhaps best known for her work during the War years when she became something of a national heroine. Yet as if that wasn't enough, there was plenty more to her art as well. In some ways she was to be more popular in America than she was here - albeit before her war work - and she made annual trips across the Atlantic where here performances were deeply appreciated and loved. Dame Myra is one of the pianists that people seem to have taken very much to their hearts - and indeed those people who knew her have all written from the same hymn sheet - she was a very lovely person. Interestingly enough I remember a very elderly lady from London who had been a music student in London, and had actually known Hess, and she always enthused about what a lovely person she was. When the war began and all manner of cultural richness in London was put on hold, all the paintings from the National Gallery had been removed for safety, Hess decided that music was needed to lift the spirits...the concerts were arranged, and Hess gave the first performance just in case the whole idea was a failure! Of course it was a great success, and indeed the concerts took place every day, with a wealth of different musicians, although of course Hess regularly played there herself. The difference that these concerts made to the morale of the people who went to them was to be unparalleled. So many people who had never before had an interest in classical music came along and were forever changed in their outlook, and music was a gift that would in many cases never leave them. As an artist Hess was powerful and dynamic. She excelled in the German repertoire of Mozart Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms, though in her young days she had championed contemporary works, and made her debut (I think at the proms) playing the 1st concerto of Liszt!! In her latter years she was far more well known for the German classics. Her Beethoven performances are strong and her way in the Concertos is very satisfying. But if there is one recording that marks her above anything else, it is the 2nd Concerto of Brahms recorded live with Bruno Walter in 1951. Back in the mid 1980s I just happened to be listening to the radio, and Brahms 2nd concerto was being played. Never before had I heard such powerful playing and never had this concerto been given such a mighty interpretation...I just had to listen till the end, and, as I remember saying at the time 'I must find out who this bloke is...his playing is so powerful!' At the end, of course the announcement was made, and it wasn't a bloke at all, but this lady, Dame Myra Hess! I was further interested to read recently that she had small hands...that you would never imagine from her performances! And for all the recordings and performances I have heard of this piece, time and again, I return to this one recording which for me has never been surpassed. In interview with John Amis (who for some reason sounds like he is interviewing the Queen Mother!) she describes in her wonderful deep contralto voice how she never liked recording - and how her recordings 'bore me to death!' She had a dislike also of modern pianists who played 'much too well...and much too fast! One day when I am in the concert hall, and these young pianists adopt these exaggerated tempi, I am going to stand up in the auditorium and say "vive le sport!"...it isn't music anymore.' Certainly in her performances there is much to admire, but never does she adopt an over brilliance; although this may also be partly the repertoire she choose - and in which she certainly excelled! It is perhaps in the wealth of live performances which are now coming to the fore that we are hearing the greatness of this pianist. Recently on BBC Legends CDs there are available her performances of the concertos of Beethoven 4, 5, 2 (two performances), the Schumann, and Mozart 23. At the same time APR label has issued 3 CDs of her live American performances at the University of Illinois. But track down the Brahms 2nd Concerto, and I recon you will never look back!
- |
|
