I had the privilege, and memorable experience, of singing in the chorus for Ogdon's performance with the National Symphony.at Constitution Hall, Washington D.C, in 1968 I believe (probably following this recording by him in 1967). I remember learning the German, and standing quite a long time before we got to the the chorus's big part in the last movement! And I remember well John's marvelous, muscular playing. Quite a forceful but gentle bear, I thought! It was tremendously exciting to be even a tiny part of that event.
Just been reading about a performance in Auckland, NZ, the same year, in which Ogden banished contraltos from the (offstage) choir and the conductor (Matteucci) switched the choir's language from German to Italian (why not Danish?) at the last minute.
This is a magnificent work, played here by one of the greatest pianists ever. Ogden was incredible, he could sight read and remember anything. A sad genius, tragically missed
In a radio programme on John Ogdon, the passage at 28:30 was played as an example of the astonishing clarity of his fingerwork in the usually muddy base of a piano. It is amazing.
I have all of the performances of this concerto on cd. My favorite pianist in Hamelin and I've flown across the country to see him play. But this is without a doubt the greatest recording ever made of this colossal piece. Hamelin recording is fantastic but this one...divine.
Completely agree. Both recordings are a must for this concerto. Hamelin is spectacular, and exquisitely musical, but a little too fast for clarity in some spots. Ogdon edges him out in every category, I think.
It's the first time I hear this concerto. I love it, I'm going to practice and get it in my fingers. I knew of Ogden, but not listening. My lost, this is vey very beautiful
Not the finest conductor to have tackled this magnificent work, nor the most refined orchestral playing of its rich and splendidly orchestrated score, but John Ogdon's account of it is peerless. The concerto has since had quite a few recordings and performances but is still not as often heard in public as it deserves to be.
Ferruccio Busoni, unnachahmlich, skurril, genial, merkwürdig, mutig, freigeistig, viel Lärm um Nichts, Neurer, mit einem Wort: rätselhaft! - Ich bin froh, dass er hier in Berlin begraben liegt und es würde mir etwas fehlen, wenn ich nicht wenigstens einmal im Jahr dort eine Rose hinlegte. Ich verehre ihn! 🤍 🦢
This is a really GREAT performance of the work, and was the first one I ever heard. I love Ogdon's power and majesty at the piano and hope more of his recordings will become available again...his Beethoven "Hammerklavier" is without peer.
As long as I live, I’ll never forget hearing this on the radio. I knew of the work dit didn’t dream I’d be able to hear it. Then I look in the Schwann catalogue and discovered that it was recorded and got the recording that very night. That was about fifty years ago.
The work itself is rather overlong and uneven, but John Ogdon's performance is maybe the most breathtaking keyboard performance I've heard in my entire life!
C'est la plus grande interprétation de ce concerto, John Ogdon en est presque l'auteur comme Rachmaninov dit un jour d'Horowitz qu'il venait de découvrir avec Horowitz ce qu'était sa deuxième sonate.
The work is as long as it is Christof and that's fine. Creativity sometimes works like this. One might as well say that the Wagner Ring Cycle is too long. The Brahms Concertos are also long. So what. Either the music has something to say or it doesn't. In this case it says a lot. One shouldn't superimpose a preconceived idea onto any original work of what a concerto should be.
Sviatoslav Richter said Busoni never really made it as a composer....i guess it comes down to what richter expects a piece to bring. ppl measure in different ways
I agree. Music is not always measured by the written score but how a person can relate to it. Music can fit like a glove with your emotions and feelings.
"It's too long" "It's structurally messy" "The piece is uneven" Blah, blah, blah... I don't care. This piece is amazing. It's not too long for me. I'd love if it kept going and going...
Ogdon was clearly a genius and as such unique. But genius is linear. From Ogdon it goes back from master to predecessor, from Busoni back to Liszt for whom Busoni performed at the age of seven. All three were pianist-composers. Great gifts are, like the Nile, great destroyers. Liszt , who was in holy orders, ended his life in a form of pious simplicity. An atheist, Busoni pioneered micro-tonality. Ogdon could play even the most complex new music at sight and went mad.
Keith Botsfordd As far as lineage goes - we should mention Ogdon's link to Busoni - Egon Petri. "Petri considered himself more of a Busoni disciple than student". It was clearly this great admiration that he passed on to Ogdon.
s1earle because it's not about superficial brilliance. And I knew Ogdon and have heard Hamelin, John produced a titanic sound that makes Hamelin seem like a very agile mouse. This is something one can only know about from live performance.
I had the privilege, and memorable experience, of singing in the chorus for Ogdon's performance with the National Symphony.at Constitution Hall, Washington D.C, in 1968 I believe (probably following this recording by him in 1967). I remember learning the German, and standing quite a long time before we got to the the chorus's big part in the last movement! And I remember well John's marvelous, muscular playing. Quite a forceful but gentle bear, I thought! It was tremendously exciting to be even a tiny part of that event.
Just been reading about a performance in Auckland, NZ, the same year, in which Ogden banished contraltos from the (offstage) choir and the conductor (Matteucci) switched the choir's language from German to Italian (why not Danish?) at the last minute.
This is a magnificent work, played here by one of the greatest pianists ever. Ogden was incredible, he could sight read and remember anything. A sad genius, tragically missed
The opening to this concerto is as good as anybody. A masterwork.
plekkchand One of my favorite concerto openings, I agree
In a radio programme on John Ogdon, the passage at 28:30 was played as an example of the astonishing clarity of his fingerwork in the usually muddy base of a piano. It is amazing.
One of the all-time great recordings!
A titanic work I come to again and again. Ogdon's work here is sheer genius - equal to the composer's vision in my humble opinion.
I have all of the performances of this concerto on cd. My favorite pianist in Hamelin and I've flown across the country to see him play. But this is without a doubt the greatest recording ever made of this colossal piece. Hamelin recording is fantastic but this one...divine.
Completely agree. Both recordings are a must for this concerto. Hamelin is spectacular, and exquisitely musical, but a little too fast for clarity in some spots. Ogdon edges him out in every category, I think.
Did Egon Petri ever record it?
@@perry1559 Igor Setriaz DID record it, though. One of the best, ever!!
It's the first time I hear this concerto. I love it, I'm going to practice and get it in my fingers. I knew of Ogden, but not listening. My lost, this is vey very beautiful
I've never really given this concerto the attention it deserves, that is, before finding this recording. Really impressive.
Not the finest conductor to have tackled this magnificent work, nor the most refined orchestral playing of its rich and splendidly orchestrated score, but John Ogdon's account of it is peerless. The concerto has since had quite a few recordings and performances but is still not as often heard in public as it deserves to be.
I always liked the orchestra in this recording, but I agree that Ogdon's playing is what stands out the most.
Ogdon performed this with Horenstein . There’s a recording on you tube.
@@neilford99 Absolutely! Revenaugh was something between an amateur and a dilettante conductor; incredible that he did so well.
@@joellazar1312 greetings joel!
Did he play it in his later years?
Ferruccio Busoni, unnachahmlich, skurril, genial, merkwürdig,
mutig, freigeistig, viel Lärm um Nichts, Neurer, mit einem Wort:
rätselhaft! - Ich bin froh, dass er hier in Berlin begraben liegt
und es würde mir etwas fehlen, wenn ich nicht wenigstens
einmal im Jahr dort eine Rose hinlegte.
Ich verehre ihn! 🤍 🦢
I admire the devotion you have for this great performer...
Thank you!
The greatest performance ever... and ever. For all time.
John Ogdon delivers a towering performance of this monumental piece, just astounding!
1:02:30
This is a really GREAT performance of the work, and was the first one I ever heard. I love Ogdon's power and majesty at the piano and hope more of his recordings will become available again...his Beethoven "Hammerklavier" is without peer.
As long as I live, I’ll never forget hearing this on the radio. I knew of the work dit didn’t dream I’d be able to hear it. Then I look in the Schwann catalogue and discovered that it was recorded and got the recording that very night. That was about fifty years ago.
56:20
Kesinlikle olağanüstü
With all the comments about Ogdon, I wonder...what other treasures from Busoni have not been recorded yet?
None that are quite this delightful, I suspect.
Thanks.
The CANTICO is simply SUBLIME! I fell in love at the very first time I ever heard it! Busoni is one of the GIANTS!
Daniell Revenaugh is actually my favorite pianist -but he certainly is also a fabulous Conductor!
My favorite piano concerto!
It's my favorite too
Huh? A chorus in a piano concerto? Cool.
Two more examples: Beethoven's 'Choral Fantasy' for piano, chorus and orchestra and Alan Bush's Piano Concerto of the late 1930s. Both on TH-cam.
This is colossal piece... No description available...
You can tell Sorabji was a big fan of Busoni! Piano: good. Lots more piano (both in intensity and duration): even better
Jolly good what
The work itself is rather overlong and uneven, but John Ogdon's performance is maybe the most breathtaking keyboard performance I've heard in my entire life!
Thanks for uploading this!
such a joyful opening for the piano after a sorrow filled orchestral introduction
Ogdon's interpretation is to this concerto what Solti's interprestation is to Wagner's Ring.
All I can say is - Oh My God!!!
C'est la plus grande interprétation de ce concerto, John Ogdon en est presque l'auteur comme Rachmaninov dit un jour d'Horowitz qu'il venait de découvrir avec Horowitz ce qu'était sa deuxième sonate.
The work is as long as it is Christof and that's fine. Creativity sometimes works like this. One might as well say that the Wagner Ring Cycle is too long. The Brahms Concertos are also long. So what. Either the music has something to say or it doesn't. In this case it says a lot. One shouldn't superimpose a preconceived idea onto any original work of what a concerto should be.
Sviatoslav Richter said Busoni never really made it as a composer....i guess it comes down to what richter expects a piece to bring. ppl measure in different ways
I agree. Music is not always measured by the written score but how a person can relate to it. Music can fit like a glove with your emotions and feelings.
Get back on those meds, Stephano. We're rooting for you.
Auf einem Level mit Hamelin und Lively!
Hamelin is clearly not on the same level as this. But Lively comes pretty cloes. Amazing performance from Ogdon. Never been matched.
"It's too long" "It's structurally messy" "The piece is uneven"
Blah, blah, blah...
I don't care. This piece is amazing. It's not too long for me. I'd love if it kept going and going...
Am I missing something or is this NOT a video, but an audio recording?
yes, it's audio , saving bandwidth is good.
Ogdon was clearly a genius and as such unique. But genius is linear. From Ogdon it goes back from master to predecessor, from Busoni back to Liszt for whom Busoni performed at the age of seven. All three were pianist-composers. Great gifts are, like the Nile, great destroyers. Liszt , who was in holy orders, ended his life in a form of pious simplicity. An atheist, Busoni pioneered micro-tonality. Ogdon could play even the most complex new music at sight and went mad.
Hello Keith-I was looking up an old friend (Daniell Revenaugh) and your face appeared. The world is getting smaller by the minute. Hope you are well.
Keith Botsfordd As far as lineage goes - we should mention Ogdon's link to Busoni - Egon Petri. "Petri considered himself more of a Busoni disciple than student". It was clearly this great admiration that he passed on to Ogdon.
Unkind of you to say Ogdon "went mad" -- he had an episode of mental illness and recovered rather quickly.
Robert Pearson you have no idea what you are talking about. He struggled with schizophrenia his entire adult
Life.
I remember he had problems, money problems, at one stage in his life abd "they" took his piano....I could have wept. What cruelty.
After a somewhat wayward opening, quite enjoyable: But nowhere near the excitement created by Hamelin in his excellent performance.
s1earle because it's not about superficial brilliance. And I knew Ogdon and have heard Hamelin, John produced a titanic sound that makes Hamelin seem like a very agile mouse. This is something one can only know about from live performance.
What are you talking about, "wayward"? What nonsense.