PIANO MAN: LIFE OF JOHN OGDON PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Charles Beauclerk | 432 pages | 27 Mar 2014 | Simon & Schuster Ltd | 9780857200112 | English | London, United Kingdom Piano Man | Book by Charles Beauclerk | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster UK

Reading the book is a roller-coaster of inspiration, sadness, amusement, and astonishment. I experienced moments of anger at the way in which Ogdon seemed to be exploited but at the same time h It took me a while to read this book but I am very glad that I did. I experienced moments of anger at the way in which Ogdon seemed to be exploited but at the same time he lived his life through music and it was the only way he could effectively communicate. No doubt, like all biographies, there are elements of bias and inaccuracy and it will not be to everyone's taste but it is definitely a worthwhile read whether you are a pianist or just interested in people. I felt that Beauclerk was trying to be understanding of Brenda Lucas Ogdon's position as John's wife but there was clearly some blame to be laid at her door. At the same time, she definitely enabled much of his life and career. Who is to say what goes on between people? Oct 28, David Cowling rated it really liked it. Having won the Tchaikovsky Competition in , he became a concert pianist of considerable standing and left behind him a rich legacy of recorded work. He remains unique despite living in an era characterised by its notable interpreters. He later struggled with terrible psychotic episodes to the extent that he was eventually made a patient of the Court of Protection. Such were his levels of introversion, a large part of his musical life involved sublimating these intense emotional troubles into interpretations of depth and poignancy. The unconscious, on the other hand, however disorientating, has its roots in divine order. Ultimately though, the division of mind into conscious and unconscious is a false dichotomy that closes the door on the reality of a holistic perception. It is this single-mindedness, this spirit of absolute self-confidence, that is the sine qua non of the great interpreter. There is no doubting that Ogdon had it in abundance. An extremely well written account of the genius and madness that was John Ogdon. John had a strange childhood - he was a toddler when his father, Howard, a schizophrenic attacked his mother, Dorothy, with an axe. The oldest boy managed to fend him off, but Howard was then committed to an asylum, and Dorothy turned her attention to John, already showing signs of being a musical prodigy. Prodded by his mother and encouraged by his teacher he made it to the Royal Manchester College of Music, which i An extremely well written account of the genius and madness that was John Ogdon. Prodded by his mother and encouraged by his teacher he made it to the Royal Manchester College of Music, which is where he crossed paths with Brenda Lucas, another local girl, who was to become his wife. Brenda, herself a piano player, studying at the college, yearned to climb the social ladder, and, once married to John, re-invented herself, changing from a homely Lancashire girl to a more acceptable woman with the "right" accent. This book details his rise to fame, his battle with mental illness and his return to the public stage, much of which makes for uncomfortable reading, even though it is handled in a sympathetic way. John's piano playing was exciting, dynamic and sublime, and it is for this his is most well known, but he was also an accomplished composer. Since reading this book I am listening again to some of his recordings, and in fact, as I write I have my headphones on as I listen to John playing Busoni's in C Major Op 39 - wonderful! He was an extraordinary man with an extraordinary talent, but also with demons. It has been said that he played the piano to keep those demons at bay I doubt this book will be widely read, but it is essential reading for those interested in John Ogdon, mental health issues, and classical music. This is an interesting book about a remarkable man. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Readers also enjoyed. About Charles Beauclerk. Charles Beauclerk. Books by Charles Beauclerk. Related Articles. Read more Get our latest book recommendations, author news, competitions, offers, and other information right to your inbox. I understand I can change my preference through my account settings or unsubscribe directly from any marketing communications at any time. We will send you an email with instructions on how to redeem your free eBook, and associated terms. Tell us what you like and we'll recommend books you'll love. Sign up and get a free eBook! Join our mailing list! Paperback Hardcover eBook. About The Book. About The Author. Charles Beauclerk. Product Details. Resources and Downloads. Get a FREE e-book by joining our mailing list today! Thank you for signing up, fellow book lover! New Releases Books and The City. Aspects of Virtuosity | The Oxonian Review

His tutor there was Claud Biggs. He won first prize at the London Liszt Competition in and consolidated his growing international reputation by winning another first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in , jointly with . Ogdon was able to play most pieces at sight and had committed a huge range of pieces to memory. He intended to record the complete piano works of , a feat which would constitute about six full-length CDs, but only recorded about half of them. He recorded all ten Scriabin in Ogdon was also a formidable exponent of the works of Alkan and Busoni. In more familiar repertoire, he revealed deep musical sensibilities, always buttressed by a colossal technique. He also recorded a number of duo-piano works with his wife, Brenda Lucas , also known as Brenda Lucas Ogdon. The piece was never published and the manuscript had long been believed lost, but it came to light in Ogdon and Diana McVeigh developed a performing version of the piece from Elgar's manuscript, which was full of corrections, deletions and additions. His own compositions number more than , and include four operas, two large works for orchestra, three cantatas, songs, chamber music, a substantial amount of music for solo piano, and two piano concertos, the first of which he recorded. The majority of his music was composed for the piano. These include 50 transcriptions of works by composers as diverse as Stravinsky , Palestrina , Mozart , Satie and Wagner. He also made piano arrangements of songs by , and and he wrote unaccompanied sonatas for violin, flute and cello. A planned symphony based on the works of , and a comic opera were left unfinished. The original manuscripts of many of Ogdon's compositions are deposited in the Royal Northern College of Music Library. Ogdon's health was good, and his physical constitution was strong, as his wife often recalled in her biography. Regarded as a "gentle giant", known and loved for his kindness and generosity, he had tremendous energy. But an everyday business argument seemed to upset him more than expected and then suddenly in he experienced a severe breakdown. This sometimes changed his personality completely. His illness was initially diagnosed as schizophrenia , but then changed to manic depression now referred to as bipolar disorder. Either condition may have been inherited from his father, who suffered several psychotic episodes and a mental breakdown. Nevertheless, he was reported to maintain three hours' practice a day on the hospital's piano. In , after emerging from hospital, he played at the opening of the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. Charles Beauclerk. The first full biography of John Ogdon; a tortured genius and arguably the greatest British pianist of all time. From the beginning of his professional career as a soloist John Ogdon was hailed as a musician of rare understanding and phenomenal technical gifts. Able to play and memorize just about any score at sight, tales of his impossible exploits at the keyboard are legion. Yet Ogdon was a man of extremes and it was this very extremity, while the source of much of his gift, that also led to appalling suffering. Here was a man whose feelings were inexpressibly deep and often tormenting, and Ogdon's glory days, following his coveted Tchaikovsky prize in , came to a sudden end in when he suffered a severe mental breakdown which led to his being certified insane and made patient of the Court of Protection. Over the course of several harrowing years Ogdon would spend large periods of time in and out of psychiatric wards and halfway houses. The drugs and treatments prescribed sometimes affected his coordination, and his reputation suffered as a result. Yet Ogdon's commitment to his art remained undimmed, and until the end he drew out performances of tremendous beauty and conviction from the depths of his ravaged heart. In this illuminating biography, Charles Beauclerk explores the life of a brilliantly inspired artist, for whom music was both his cross and his salvation. John Rachmaninoff Ogdon. Interlude The Drama of the Gifted Child. New Music Manchester. Piano Man by Charles Beauclerk

A planned symphony based on the works of Herman Melville , and a comic opera were left unfinished. The original manuscripts of many of Ogdon's compositions are deposited in the Royal Northern College of Music Library. Ogdon's health was good, and his physical constitution was strong, as his wife often recalled in her biography. Regarded as a "gentle giant", known and loved for his kindness and generosity, he had tremendous energy. But an everyday business argument seemed to upset him more than expected and then suddenly in he experienced a severe breakdown. This sometimes changed his personality completely. His illness was initially diagnosed as schizophrenia , but then changed to manic depression now referred to as bipolar disorder. Either condition may have been inherited from his father, who suffered several psychotic episodes and a mental breakdown. Nevertheless, he was reported to maintain three hours' practice a day on the hospital's piano. In , after emerging from hospital, he played at the opening of the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham. In he released a five-disc recording of an interpretation of Sorabji 's . He died in August of pneumonia , brought on by undiagnosed diabetes. His wife Brenda, along with writer Michael Kerr, wrote a biography of her life with him in , and released a second edition in , shortly before his death. The production interpreted Ogdon's illness as manic depression rather than schizophrenia, since he had responded much better to treatment for the former condition. Brenda Ogdon also recalled being informed that his obsessive musical work could have been interpreted as a symptom of manic depression. The programme featured unique archive and contemporary performance. Ogdon is survived by his daughter and son, Annabel and Richard Ogdon. A reasonably comprehensive discography can be found on the website of the John Ogdon Foundation reproduced from The Gramophone Spring edition as compiled by Michael Glover. However, a small number of other recordings have since come to light:. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 22 July Archived from the original on 10 April Retrieved 29 August Archived from the original on 25 September He was overweight, unkempt, clumsy, uncommunicative. Everyone and anyone who came into contact with Ogdon recognised a musical phenomenon. As well as a photographic memory, he had an exceptional ability to digest music off the page and translate it instantly to his fingers. He had another, even more valuable talent no one could teach — the ability to divine the soul of the music he played and communicate it to audiences both erudite and untutored. But it is hard to imagine any of these offering a portrait as unsparing, illuminating or definitive as this book. The competition was widely regarded as a propaganda tool to showcase the superiority of communism at the height of the cold war. In one of several episodes that reveals how assiduous Beauclerk has been in tracking down contemporary sources, he takes us behind the scenes of the contest, giving it the character of a thriller. By he was receiving electric shock treatment in a mental hospital. The following year he made several suicide attempts. His subsequent comebacks were as fraught as the court orders to protect him from financial destitution. He was reduced to begging for work. Reading between the lines, it becomes clear that, had Ogdon been starting out today, he would have gone nowhere. Deprived of musical tuition between the ages of 10 and 16, he would never have made the grade. Physically unattractive, he would have been a marketing nightmare. His recitals regularly featured his own compositions. Ogdon harked back to an age when, like his heroes Liszt and Busoni, almost all piano virtuosi were composers and improvisers.

‘Piano Man: A Life of John Ogdon’, by Charles Beauclerk | Financial Times

Piano Man : Life of John Ogdon. Charles Beauclerk. The first full biography of John Ogdon; a tortured genius and arguably the greatest British pianist of all time. From the beginning of his professional career as a soloist John Ogdon was hailed as a musician of rare understanding and phenomenal technical gifts. Able to play and memorize just about any score at sight, tales of his impossible exploits at the keyboard are legion. Yet Ogdon was a man of extremes and it was this very extremity, while the source of much of his gift, that also led to appalling suffering. Here was a man whose feelings were inexpressibly deep and often tormenting, and Ogdon's glory days, following his coveted Tchaikovsky prize in , came to a sudden end in when he suffered a severe mental breakdown which led to his being certified insane and made patient of the Court of Protection. Over the course of several harrowing years Ogdon would spend large periods of time in and out of psychiatric wards and halfway houses. More information. Topics Classical music Tom Service on classical music. Biography books blogposts. Reuse this content. Order by newest oldest recommendations. Show 25 25 50 All. Threads collapsed expanded unthreaded. Loading comments… Trouble loading? I understand I can change my preference through my account settings or unsubscribe directly from any marketing communications at any time. We will send you an email with instructions on how to redeem your free eBook, and associated terms. Tell us what you like and we'll recommend books you'll love. Sign up and get a free eBook! Join our mailing list! Paperback Hardcover eBook. About The Book. About The Author. Charles Beauclerk. Product Details.

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