DAME MOURA LYMPANY

It will always remain a great memory for me that I have heard one of the greatest pianists - and not only once, but 5 times!

The first time I heard Dame Moura Lympany was in the late 1980s when she gave a Chopin recital in Truro Cathedral, which she began with a performance of all the Chopin Preludes.

A few years later I attended her 75th birthday recital at which she again performed all the Chopin Preludes, the Schumann Symphonic Variations, the Debussy L'Isle Joyeuse, Reflets dans l'eau, and some pretty incredible encores...she won a standing ovation which she certainly deserved.

I then heard her perform the 4th Concerto of Beethoven, the 3rd concerto of Rachmaninoff (which, just like her 1950s recording she performed with the composer's cuts and the lighter cadenza) and the 2nd concerto of Brahms. The memory of these marvellous concerts remains as clear as it was the day after.

A slight figure, Lympany would come on the stage with a demure smile, and a modest bow. At the keyboard she would move only as the length of the keyboard demanded of her, with one exception. When the music grew powerful, she would lean forward, putting the entire weight of her modest frame into the piano...and the result was a power and strength which, even in her late 70s, brought from the piano a very mighty sound indeed. A friend who accompanied me to her Rachmaninoff 3rd performance commented that 'she's still got some power in her!' That was, in fact, an understatement.

Lympany was trained by Tobias Matthay, who concentrated very much on the quality of sound, and also taught Myra Hess, Harriet Cohen, Irene Scharrer, and, many others. After that she studied with Matilde Verne who had been a pupil of Clara Schumann, among her other students was Solomon.

When Khachaturian needed a British premier of his Piano Concerto, he approached Clifford Curzon, who declined because he was busy and didn't have the time to learn it. 'Ask Moura Lympany', he said...'she learns so quickly!'

The performances she gave were successful as too was her recording of the work (two in fact with the same orchestra and conductor).

Lympany was the first pianist to record all the Rachmaninoff Preludes during the Composer's lifetime, a task which even he had not undertaken. She recorded them three times in all, and her last version, made in her mid 70s have perhaps the most beautiful piano tone of any recording I know.

A marvellous player of Chopin and Rachmaninoff, Lympany was one of the last pianists of a great age, and as an artist made good and often 'no nonsense' accounts of her repertoire!

Her debut took place in Harrogate at the age of 12 when she played the first concerto of Mendelssohn. During her life she commanded more than 60 concertos, including the most demanding in the repertoire.

Twice she fought breast cancer, and after the operation on her left side, booked to perform the 4th piano concerto by Prokofiev, which is his concerto for the left hand alone. Yes, this is a determined and powerful lady and no mistake.

I recall that when she was on desert island discs, she was criticised for playing all (perhaps bar one) of her own records...she firmly stood by her decision, 'my recordings are damn good!' - Well, that is a fact, they sure are!