Noel Mewton-Wood plays Shostakovich's Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Orchestra #1

Noel was born in Melbourne on the 20th of Novembre, 1922. He entered the Melbourne Conservatory at the age of 7. A year later he visited Wilhelm Backhaus thanks to a fund that was created to help him to study in Europe where he based in London and later admitted to Artur Schnabel's masterclasses in Italy. His debut was on the 31th of March of 1940 performing Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto under Sir Thomas Beecham who described him as "the best talent I've discovered in the British Empire for years". He was an exceptional interpreter of 20th century music including Bartok, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Busoni and Prokofiev. He used to collaborate with Bliss and Britten: Bliss dedicated his Piano Sonata to him and he played the premiered revised version of Britten's Piano Concerto with the composer conducting at the Cheltenham Festival on the 2nd of July of 1946.

In late 1953 his partner, William Fredrick, had complains about stomach pains, but nobody took it seriously because he tended to be hypochondriac. Sadly he died soon after of acute appendicitis. On the 4th of December that same year he took his own life. 

This extraordinary recording was his very last commercial. Mewton-Wood shows a strong rhythm pulse, clear textures and pronounced accents. 

Enjoy it! It is my favorite recording of the marvelous work.

If you want this recording send me an email to canariasesmusica@gmail.com and I will send you the link.