Noel Mewton-Wood, Walter Goehr - Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 3 (1952) [2007]

Noel Mewton-Wood (November 20, 1922 – December 5, 1953) was an Australian-born concert pianist who achieved some fame
during his short life.
Born in Melbourne, he studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium until the age of fourteen. After further studies at London's Royal
Academy of Music, Mewton-Wood spent time with Artur Schnabel in Italy.
In March 1940 he returned to London for his debut performance at Queen's Hall, performing Beethoven's third piano concerto with
the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Thomas Beecham. He later performed in France, Germany, South Africa, Poland,
Turkey, and Australia.
At the age of thirty-one, Mewton-Wood committed suicide by drinking prussic acid, apparently blaming himself for the death of a
friend. The notes written by a friend of Mewton-Wood, John Amis, for the reissue of the Bliss Concerto recording, indicate that
Mewton-Wood was gay and was depressed by the recent death of his lover.
Mewton-Wood's The Times obituary of December 7, 1953 described his playing style at his debut performance:
"At once his remarkable control and his musicianship were apparent: the ascending scales in octaves, with which the pianist first
enters, thundered out with whirlwind power, but he could summon beautiful cantabile tone for the slow movement and the phrasing
of the rondo theme was admirably neat for all the rapidity of the tempo; a true understanding of the relationship in concerto
between soloist and orchestra, and of the soloist's part in ensemble, betokened the musician, the potential chamber performer."

Tracks:

TCHAIKOVSKY Piano Concerto No. 3
TCHAIKOVSKY Concert Fantasia

Personnel:

Noel Mewton-Wood, piano
Winterthur Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Walter Goehr