# John Ogdon



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Virtuoso pianistic John ongoing would have been 70 this month. Various programs aren't being held on him and various memorial concerts. Just how do people rate Hispanic playing?


----------



## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Not too well against Holland.


----------



## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

He had many up and down periods due to his varying mental health, I generally rate him highly! At his hight, he was outstanding, at his low's he was still an excellent pianist...
If You want a moving half hour, take a listen to his 1989 episode of BBC Desert Island Discs Radio show, it is extremely endearing!










/ptr


----------



## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

BBC Four's recent 'John Ogdon - Living with Genius' was interesting and revealing. He was depicted as a vulnerable person exploited by those making money off his playing regardless of his mental state. His otherworldly innocence reminded me of Yevgeny Kissin. 

Genius extracts a considerable toll sometimes.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

By all accounts he was a very inspired pianist when he was "on" but I've only heard it on two recordings - a live recital of Liszt from Tokyo and a CD with Chopin's 3rd sonata. Elsewhere he just sounds like someone spinning out notes to me, though I haven't heard his Sorabji, or his Messiaen. The recently rereleased Hammerklavier was a disappointment apart from the fugue.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Not really on my top-15 list of pianists. But not bad, of course. I´ve got about 10 LPs with him. I miss more architectural tension in the works, ebb-and-flow effects, and soft, singing lyricism.
Credits for presenting lesser known repertoire, naturally. Listening more in depth might result in a revised view in some cases.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

DavidA said:


> Virtuoso pianistic John ongoing would have been 70 this month. Various programs aren't being held on him and various memorial concerts. Just how do people rate Hispanic playing?


This software! Should have said 'his piano playing.'

Heard Ogdon once playing the Emperor and was appalled. Just a run through. Later we heard of his mental problems at the time.
But some of his performances before his breakdown were superb. But he allowed himself to be over stretched - played 200 concerts a year! No-one could play well consistently and play that often!
His Busoni Fantasia made after his breakdown is remarkable.
At his best I rate him highly - in the true Lizstian virtuoso tradition.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

DavidA said:


> This software! Should have said 'his piano playing.'
> 
> Heard Ogdon once playing the Emperor and was appalled. Just a run through. Later we heard of his mental problems at the time.
> But some of his performances before his breakdown were superb. But he allowed himself to be over stretched - played 200 concerts a year! No-one could play well consistently and play that often!
> ...


Correct, there´s a great CD with Busoni piano solo works, including the Fantasia Contrappuntistica.


----------



## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

joen_cph said:


> Correct, there´s a great CD with Busoni piano solo works, including the Fantasia Contrappuntistica.


He actually made two different recordings of the Fantasia Contrappuntistica for Altarus!







...








Only a slight difference in character. not lest due to a somewhat higher tempo in the first, but still interesting to compare for a nutter like me! 

I treasure his Busoni, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Nielsen, Alkan, Scriabin and Messiaen, (slightly) less so his Beethoven and Schumann.. I'm ambivalent towards his Opus Clavicembalisticum, but then I'm mostly ambivalent in the case of Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji!

/ptr


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I´m only familiar with the first Busoni solo piano CD!

"_Pianistic Philosophies_" was another one of his interesting LP relases (5LPs), including works by Florent Schmitt, Yardumian, Ogdon himself, Dutilleux and George Llyod, etc.

(http://www.discogs.com/John-Ogdon-Pianistic-Philosophies/release/4572737)


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

One of the features of Ogdon was his fantastic gift to be able to sight read anything and learn it in an incredibly short time. The story goes he once deputised and practically played Brahms second piano concerto from sight in a concert!


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Just reading that Ogdon was playing Chopin at three on a relatives out of tune piano. The aunt just thought he was amusing himself!


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Turns out there´s a discography here (dated 1998; allegedly complete):

http://www.johnogdon.org.uk/johnogdon/discography.php


----------



## mikey (Nov 26, 2013)

The Busoni Concerto and Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano are his renowned recordings.
I have his complete Scriabin Sonatas which for me is a very mixed bag - his soft playing is phenomenal, his loud incredibly brutal and ugly.


----------



## Guest (Jun 20, 2014)

I know I have a couple other recordings of him, but whenever I hear the name John Ogdon, I think Sorabji.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Just finished a new biography of John Ogdon by Charles Beauclerk. Felt a real sense of sadness by the time I finished it. What a tragedy that such a gifted man should be so misused by people wanting to make money out of him. Even though Beauclerk is trying to be fair-minded, Ogdon's wife, Brenda Lucas, does not come out well. It does seem that living the highlife was more important to her than her genius husband's welfare. Sad!


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Best recording of Sorabji's opus clavicembalisticum hands down, very energetic.


----------



## GGluek (Dec 11, 2011)

Heard a concert in the early '70s by Ogdon and Lucas which was really good. Also, he made the first recording of the Tippett piano concerto (with Colin Davis and LSO), which I really liked.


----------



## Bruce (Jan 2, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> By all accounts he was a very inspired pianist when he was "on" but I've only heard it on two recordings - a live recital of Liszt from Tokyo and a CD with Chopin's 3rd sonata. Elsewhere he just sounds like someone spinning out notes to me, though I haven't heard his Sorabji, or his Messiaen. The recently rereleased Hammerklavier was a disappointment apart from the fugue.


The first recording I had of Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata was by Ogden, and I always thought it was a good recording. A High Fidelity magazine review of the recording rated it very highly, except for the final movement. This was an old RCA recording--is the rerelease mentioned by RCA? At any rate, I've heard several other Hammerklaviers I prefer now.

As another contributor mentioned, his Scriabin sonata cycle is a mixed bag, with which I agree. I thought sonatas 7 and 8 were very well recorded, while the 1st sonata just sounded choppy.


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Bruce said:


> The first recording I had of Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata was by Ogden, and I always thought it was a good recording. A High Fidelity magazine review of the recording rated it very highly, except for the final movement. This was an old RCA recording--is the rerelease mentioned by RCA? At any rate, I've heard several other Hammerklaviers I prefer now.
> 
> As another contributor mentioned, his Scriabin sonata cycle is a mixed bag, with which I agree. I thought sonatas 7 and 8 were very well recorded, while the 1st sonata just sounded choppy.


I'd put his Hammerklavier right up there with Cutner.










I still have to say that I prefer Cutner in the third movement here but overall Ogdon's Hammerklavier is tops.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Bruce said:


> The first recording I had of Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata was by Ogden, and I always thought it was a good recording. A High Fidelity magazine review of the recording rated it very highly, except for the final movement. This was an old RCA recording--is the rerelease mentioned by RCA? At any rate, I've heard several other Hammerklaviers I prefer now.
> 
> As another contributor mentioned, his Scriabin sonata cycle is a mixed bag, with which I agree. I thought sonatas 7 and 8 were very well recorded, while the 1st sonata just sounded choppy.


You have to be picky with Ogdon's recordings because he was inconsistent especially after his breakdown. However, the Hammerklavier is really good - one of the best. But try his stunning Alkan on the same RCA set. The Busoni Fantasia Contrapuntistica recorded after his breakdown is also very special.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Lukecash12 said:


> Best recording of Sorabji's opus clavicembalisticum hands down, very energetic.


Has anyone else recorded it?


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

DavidA said:


> Has anyone else recorded it?


Madge on BIS.............


----------



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

DavidA said:


> Has anyone else recorded it?


Geoffrey Douglas Madge and Michael Habermann have also made some recordings. See the Sorabji Archive: http://www.sorabji-archive.co.uk/compositions/piece.php?pieceid=50

A number of other pianists have performed it, and it has been broadcast by quite a few different pianists. It is probably Sorabji's most well known piano work now. It's truly sad, however, to see how few performances there are of his pieces for piano and orchestra when I look at the archive.


----------



## ribonucleic (Aug 20, 2014)

After Marc-Andre Hamelin recorded Sorabji's Piano Sonata No. 1, I had hopes a _Clavicembalisticum_ might be forthcoming. There can hardly be a pianist on earth better equipped to tackle it.

However, if this account is true, it ain't gonna happen.


----------

